NBA
Could the Hawks trade Trae Young or Dejounte Murray before the 2024 NBA draft?
Atlanta will pick first in this week’s draft, with speculation suggesting they could look to rebuild their team after a disappointing season.
The Atlanta Hawks will have the first pick at the 2024 NBA Draft, which will take place on Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 June at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. While much of the talk beforehand has focused on which up-and-coming talents they will choose first, there has also been plenty of speculation regarding whether they might trade Trae Young or Dejounte Murray, two of the current roster’s stars.
Hawks’ endure disappointing NBA season
The Hawks, it should be remembered, are coming off the back of their worst season in four years, which basically means the team put together by Quin Synder last year didn’t work out the how they would’ve hoped.
Atlanta’s 36-46 regular season record saw them finish third in the Southeast Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference, which led to them qualify for the play-in tournament. However, their postseason ended there after a 131-116 defeat to the Chicago Bulls.
The Hawks made a splash by snaring Murray from the San Antonio Spurs in 2022, but teaming him up with Young, long thought of as a franchise player, has backfired somewhat.
Murray and Young’s record together with the Hawks
As pointed out by CBS Sports’ NBA journalist Sam Quinn, the pair’s numbers when playing together have not been at all impressive in recent times. The Hawks were outscored by 169 points in almost 1,200 minutes when Murray and Young were both in the lineup, the team’s worst two-man combination. On top of that, they are 60-69 when both have played across the last two seasons.
One of the main criticisms is that they are too similar to one another and that trading one of them, rather than both, would make most sense.
Who are the Hawks more likely to trade - Trae Young or Dejounte Murray?
Murray has been linked with moves to the Miami Heat and the LA Lakers, although it was reported in February that Synder had lobbied for the Hawks to keep the 27-year-old.
With that in mind, perhaps trading three-time NBA All-Star Young, which would’ve seemed unthinkable not too long ago, is more likely to happen before this week’s draft?
The 25-year-old has added fuel to the fire in the last few days with a cryptic X post, displaying only an hourglass emoji, which occurred just after JJ Redick had been named as the Lakers’ new head coach.
With Young’s preference to carry a team’s offence rather than play alongside another high-usage guard, a move to the Los Angeles franchise could make sense…if LeBron James doesn’t ultimately opt in for his final year, or Young is viewed as a long-term replacement for the 40-year-old.
But are we putting two and two together and getting four or five? While the feeling the Hawks have to fix things and having the number one pick in the draft is the perfect opportunity to start rebuilding the team, Young, even with his flaws, has consistently been one of the NBA’s stand-out performers for a number of seasons.