It would appear as though Trae Young’s days in Atlanta are soon coming to an end, as team officials are now reportedly working with the star point guard’s camp to facilitate a trade.
As previously reported, the Hawks began 2026 by informing teams that they would listen to any potential offers on the 27 year old. However that stance has since shifted from “we’ll hear what you have to offer” to actively seeking a deal to move Young to another club.
Young currently has the remainder of 2026, plus next season remaining on his contract, meaning any potential suitor would get at least a year and a half out of the 4x All-Star. 2026-27 is a player option year on his deal, but any trade would likely include an extension or a guarantee that the option would be picked up.
It’s been an up and down season for Atlanta, who boast a 2-8 record with Young in the lineup, but are 15-12 with him on the sidelines. Because of how ball dominant Young is when he’s on the court, clearly the Hawks current rotation gets thrown slightly off kilter when the former 1st rounder is taking up starting minutes.
With the emergence of Jalen Johnson, and fellow guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker playing at career best levels, the once unthinkable thought of moving on from Young has become much more palatable in the Atlanta area.
Nevertheless, Young remains one of the NBA’s top playmakers, having led the league in assists last season, and sporting career averages of 25.2pts/3.5reb/9.8ast per contest across 493 games. That kind of production doesn’t just grow on trees.
However whoever Young’s new team is, they’ll either need a top level rim protector already on the roster, or are a team that’s in rebuild mode that needs to move tickets. Given Young’s defensive limitations, he’s begun to develop a reputation across the NBA as a player who puts up good stats, but one you can’t win with during the playoffs. Whether merited or not, that sentiment has likely shrunk the potential trade partner pool significantly.
Still, several teams have reportedly been in contact with Atlanta to gauge what the asking price on the former Oklahoma Sooner would be. According to reports, the Washington Wizards have had cursory negotiations with the club on a package built around CJ McCollum.
Some other interesting teams include the Milwaukee Bucks, who seem to be increasingly desperate to put together a final push to keep their title contention window open with Giannis. It also gives them a potential piece to build around should the All-World forward ultimately leave town in the future as well. The return for Atlanta wouldn’t be great, likely some expiring veteran contracts and some picks on the other side of 2030, but it would give them some additional depth behind Johnson.
Portland and Sacramento are two other teams who have shown at least passing interest in the guard, but how serious their interest is remains to be seen. Then there’s also the possibility that Dallas gets involved as well. The Mavericks have expressed a desire to move on from Anthony Davis, whom Atlanta has long coveted, but have also made it known that they aren’t overly keen on taking back Young in a potential deal.
If that’s the case, there may need to be a 3rd team involved to send Young to, with Davis ending up in a Hawks uniform.
Whatever the outcome, the writing appears to definitively be on the wall that the 6’2″ guard will be on a new roster before the February 5th trade deadline.
Photo: Alexander Jonesi. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.