Atlanta Hawks superstar Trae Young should be at the top of the Brooklyn Nets‘ list of players that it should trade for, according to Dan Favale of Bleacher Report. It was reported earlier this season that no player on the Hawks is untouchable, including Young.
Young has been one of the better offensive players in the NBA ever since he came into the league as the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft out of the University of Oklahoma. Since coming into the league, Young, 24, is averaging 25.5 points and 9.3 assists per game while shooting 43.7% from the field and 35.1% from three-point land.
It will be interesting to see what direction the Hawks go in this offseason given that they made it to the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs as the seventh seed before losing to the second seed Boston Celtics in six games. Throughout this past season, Atlanta has been trying to trade John Collins, but it’s possible that Young could be on the trading block as well if Quin Snyder wants a different style of lead guard.
The Nets are also in an interesting place given that they made it into the playoffs outright as the sixth seed before getting swept by the Philadelphia 76ers. After trading away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn finished the season below .500 and were in the bottom half of the league in both offensive rating and defensive rating. Young would not help the defensive side of the ball, but he should would help with the offensive part:
“Mikal Bridges isn’t an A-plus-plus-plus superstar, but his on-ball offensive leap and contract (three years, $69.9 million) offer the Nets a directional alternative. Rather than rebuild, they can look to reload around him and another star—preferably an advantage creator.
Enter Trae Young.
Rumblings about his future in Atlanta persisted through the end of the season. The Hawks aren’t obligated to trade him. He has another three years before he’s eligible to hit free agency. But if they do decide to shop him, Brooklyn has a gaping hole at the point of attack and plenty of assets to peddle.”
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