Atlanta Hawks budding young point guard Trae Young was reportedly the center of an emotional locker room scene following another loss, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The loss, a 130-118 clunker to the Brooklyn Nets, was Atlanta’s 11th in 13 games with eight of those by double-digit points. The Hawks are tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference with the even more woeful New York Knicks.
Trae Young is, well, young. As is the rest of Atlanta’s team, who some analysts thought would be a playoff-contending team this season. Instead, they endured a horrid month of November where they went 2-13 and sit in the cellar of the East. Atlanta owns the third-worst defensive rating and third-worst overall net rating in the NBA, a far cry from where they wanted to be with second-year coach Lloyd Pierce. Charania reports that, following the aforementioned Brooklyn Nets, a high-ranking Hawks official told Young that he would be “getting some help” in the form of another player.
That bit of news throws the Hawks squarely into the trade discussions, which will surely be picking up in the coming weeks. Atlanta has been without John Collins, who is serving a 25-game suspension, and Kevin Huerter, though the latter has since returned from injury. So while Atlanta is not performing up to expected standards, it is not without good reason. Collins and Huerter are key, young rotational pieces.
Where exactly the Hawks could make a dent in the trade market has yet to be determined. Based on their timeline, which is to compete for the playoffs within the next few seasons, the veterans on the trade market do not fit. Kevin Love, for example, with Cleveland now listening to offers for him, would be one of those veterans. But at 31-years-old, he does not fit their timeline. It will be interesting to see who Atlanta targets to give Trae Young some help, though DeAndre Hunter and Cam Reddish providing that would certainly be preferred.
