Earlier this week, the Atlanta Hawks closed the book on the Trae Young era. The franchise reached some of its greatest heights under Young’s leadership, including an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Young had loved Atlanta with all his heart, but towards the end knew that his time with the team had run its course. Its turns out, even if the Hawks hadn’t been able to find a trade destination for him, he was willing to leave the team in free agency.
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Young quickly became the face of the Hawks franchise after joining the team in 2018. However, a series of disappointing seasons in recent years led to serious questions regarding his security with the franchise. It didn’t help that the emergence of Jalen Johnson provided the Hawks with faith that their future was in good hands without the four-time All-Star.
However, the Hawks made a series of moves in the offseason by acquiring Kristaps Porzingis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to try and rebuild the team around Young. So, at the very least, Young wanted to see how things would be with this restructured roster.
“I wanted to give the first half of the season a chance. And me and Kristaps being injured it just felt like the right time [for a change of scenery],” he said in an exit interview with Andscape’s Marc Spears.
Unfortunately, Young was barely able to suit up for the Hawks this season. He only appeared in 10 games in which the team had a 2-8 record. It didn’t help that he shared the court with Porzingis in only three games. Considering the Hawks were experiencing success with Johnson at the helm, Young didn’t want to disrupt fate.
“Jalen has been balling, and I was always helping and wanting him to get the ball, too. I just felt like it was time. I always wanted to leave on the right note,” Young proclaimed.
Leaving on the right note is certainly what he did. Young requested a trade rather than hitting the open market in the offseason. The 6-foot-2 guard has a $49 million player option for next season, which he was willing to utilize to his advantage to find a new home.
“I didn’t even want to get it to my player option this summer to do that because that could end up leaving Atlanta with nothing,” Young revealed. “As much as people say [otherwise], I didn’t want to put that in the air.”
Luckily, the Hawks were able to get a return for Young. Was it a bountiful trade package? Certainly not. However, CJ McCollum and Cory Kispert will be excellent complementary pieces to their team. McCollum’s expiring deal also gives the Hawks financial flexibility for the immediate future.
Young was able to go to a team that he wanted to and the Hawks were able to receive the type of assets they wanted. Although the partnership between Young and the Hawks didn’t end as planned, they both can be happy about the future.
