With less than a month until the NBA trade deadline, the rumor mill is slowly cranking up to full speed. One of the biggest names likely to be moved is Trae Young, who has gone from a franchise cornerstone who led the Hawks to within two games of the Finals in 2021 to a misfit.
Advertisement
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported this week that Trae and the Hawks are working together to find a trade. Though the $89 million he is making this year and next limits the potential pool of suitors, it seems like both sides are motivated to get something done. After all, Young no longer seems like he fits on the Hawks roster.
On the latest episode of No Fouls Given, Paul Pierce and Danny Green threw out some potential landing spots for Trae. One place that Pierce favored was Dallas. He suggested that a deal centered around Trae for Kyrie Irving would make sense for both sides.
“He’s still young,” Pierce said of the 27-year-old Trae after Green questioned how he would fit with Cooper Flagg’s timeline. “He’s good, he can manage them until they mature, and then figure it out. His contract will be up by [the] time they mature, and then they can move on.”
The Mavs have been in desperate need of a true point guard, to the point that head coach Jason Kidd made the odd decision early in the season to play Flagg as a point forward. They do expect Kyrie back in the coming weeks, though.
However, Kyrie has always been more of a combo guard than Trae, who has led the league in assists three times in his career. That kind of playmaking could really help with Flagg’s development. And if healthy, Kyrie could be a good fit in Atlanta.
Kyrie is respected by young players in a way that Trae just doesn’t seem to be right now. He could give the Hawks that extra scoring punch they need next to Jalen Johnson.
And, Kyrie has an extra year left on his deal compared to Trae. So this trade would allow the Mavs to clear the books in 2027 instead of 2028.
If Flagg develops at a rapid pace (as people expect he will), then at that time the Mavs can go all-in on pairing him with another star or two. Trae could also be a great fit and be re-signed.
Kyrie is 33 and coming off a major injury, so he would theoretically have more urgency to win now than to be on a rebuilding team. That’s why Pierce thinks Atlanta could be a great fit for him.
“The fit for Kyrie to be with Atlanta, to make some runs in the next three or four years, as a veteran guard who can really help them, I feel like he fits more with them than Trae,” the former Celtics star explained.
Trae makes more than Kyrie, so the teams wouldn’t be able to make a one-for-one swap. Dallas would have to add something. However, given Trae’s perception right now, it may have to be the kind of situation where the Mavs add a player whose salary makes a deal work, but the Hawks have to throw in draft picks to entice them to do it in the first place.
The Hawks were looking good earlier in the year, but have really fallen off lately. So they should be motivated to get a deal done quickly, turn the page, and try to get back into contention this year.
The deadline isn’t for almost a month. But don’t be surprised if a deal gets done sooner than that, whether it’s with the Mavs or someone else.
