The Atlanta Hawks are rumored to have entertained trade talks for Trae Young with the San Antonio Spurs in 2023, and they could be exploring their options with the four-time All-Star once again. NBA insider Zach Lowe believes that would be a mistake, at least at this juncture.
Lowe examined the landscape and offered sage advice for a Hawks front office that has undergone significant changes in recent days.
Lowe’s remarks also loom large for Young.
“I just am endlessly intrigued by the Hawks for reasons that no one else understands. I think they’re actually in a much stronger position going forward than people might realize. Now it’s – I don’t think they’re like a championship contender or anything like that,” Lowe said on the “Zach Lowe Show” on June 9.
“I just think … the Dejounte Murray retrade, the emergence of Dyson Daniels as like a legit plus-starter, and Jalen Johnson looking like a future All-Star before he got injured, those three events together, let alone what [Onyeka] Okongwu did in the second half of the season, and getting [Zaccharie] Risacher and Risacher looking pretty good, I think they’re in a pretty strong position, and I just – I’m just so curious about what any of this means, if anything, for Trae Young, who looms as one of the bigger sort of franchise-defining dominoes in the NBA.”
To Lowe’s point, the Hawks’ preferred starting lineup of Young, Daniels, Risacher, Johnson, and Okongwu played a grand total of 37 possessions together in 2024-25, per Cleaning The Glass.
They posted a minus-34 net efficiency differential, but the sample is too small for conclusions.
As for Young, he is entering Year 3 of a five-year, $215.1 million contract and is extension-eligible this offseason. He also has a player option that functionally puts him on an expiring deal, barring a new agreement.
Speculation about his future has been quieter than in years past, but Young’s status remains a source of intrigue around the league.
Insider lobbies Hawks to hold off on Trae Young trade
“I kind of want the Hawks to keep Trae Young long term. And one of the reasons, I think I one of the reasons, is I don’t think there’s a great market for him. So, I don’t think there’s a trade out there that completely just reorients the franchise in a positive way,” Lowe told his guest, The Ringer’s Michael Pina.
“I could see in a year, in 10 months, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God! The Hawks are up 2-1 in the second round, and Trae Young is moving off the ball a little bit, and blah, blah, blah. I could see it. I could see it.”
Lowe urged Young and the Hawks to consider a deal worth less than the max he can earn.
Young is eligible for a four-year, $229 million extension this offseason. However, ESPN’s Bobby Marks, a former executive with the Brooklyn Nets, also argued against it.
“On the surface, Young deserves the four-year, $229 million extension he is eligible to sign,” Marks wrote on June 3. “The counterargument to a new contract is pinned to roster construction and comfort level to committing long term to Young.
Young’s performance is just as much a factor as the Hawks’ roster skewing younger.
“Young shot a career low 53% at the rim and had the second-worst effective field goal percentage of his career,” Marks wrote. “He also led the league in turnovers with 355.”
Marks offered a three-year, $120 million pact – a drop of more than $17 million from the max – as a compromise. Few teams loom as threats to poach Young should the Hawks fail to extend him, but some lurk, like the Brooklyn Nets and, even worse, the Orlando Magic.
Lowe suggested a four-year, $165 million pact, acknowledging it is a “dangerous game.”
This has several earmarks of the John Collins situation. Granted, Collins is not the same caliber player as Young. Still, that dragged out for years, which the Hawks do not want to repeat.