According to The Ringer’s Howard Beck, the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks discussed a deal this season that would have paired rising young star Victor Wembanyama with backcourt sharpshooter Trae Young.
“He’s available,” an Eastern Conference exec said on Young. “’I think they would love to trade Trae,’ a Western Conference exec said of the Hawks, who are 24-30 and again slotted for the play-in tournament. One exec said Atlanta discussed a potential Young trade with San Antonio before last week’s deadline.”
For whatever reason, the trade ultimately fell apart this season and the Hawks let the deadline pass without any major moves. But for Young, who was traded to the Hawks on draft night in 2018, the future has never been so unclear. At the very least, alongside Victor Wembanyama, he’ll have more clarity alongside his best teammate ever with his best chance since 2021 of playing meaningful basketball.
Objectively, Trae’s status as one of the best scorers, ball handlers, and playmakers in the game right now is everything the Spurs have been looking for in their franchise point guard and his arrival would open up a whole new world of opportunities for Victor. Together, it’s hard to see a world where the pairing fails to find success together given their inside/outside attack.
Even so, questions remain about Young and his capacity to be someone who can deliver in the important moments. Besides a single playoff run, Trae has nothing to prove that he’s ready to compete for a championship and the fact that the Hawksneary traded him this year says all you need to know about their level of confidence in his chances to lead them to a title.
Change Is Coming For Trae Young
Trae Young narrowly made the cut for All-Star this season after being named an injury replacement in the East, but his career has been on a downward trend since reaching the Conference Finals in 2021. After going viral for his swagger and energy all throughout the postseason, the Hawks got crushed against the Bucks in the Conference Finals and have yet to reach the same level of success.
This season, at 24-30, the writing appears to be on the wall for this Hawks team and it’s why they were mixed up in all kinds of rumors involving Young, Dejounte Murray, and even Clint Capela. As the centerpiece for all that they do, Trae Young is now at the center of blame and there is a growing feeling that he will have to leave the Hawks before they can move on into a different era of the franchise.
Love him or hate him, Young is still a great player capable of putting up big numbers. This season, at 27.0 points, 10.9 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game, Trae is clearly a top-10 guard in the league and the Spurs believe his impact could be much greater in a different situation, alongside a star big like Wembanyama who can cover up some of his flaws.
With the trade deadline passed already, the Spurs will have to wait before they can move on Trae but it gives them time to see what else they have on this roster that might help them win moving forward. At 11-43 this season, the Spurs certainly need all the help they can get right now.
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