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This has nothing to do with basketball. But my friend Sean Jordan is a hilarious comedian, and he just had a “Don’t Tell Comedy” set go up on YouTube. He’s so funny, and I think it’s worth your time. If you can’t promote your friends doing dope stuff, what can you promote?
Trae-d Young?
Who wants the Hawks’ star guard?
Maybe the writing has been on the wall since right before the start of this season, when we found out the Atlanta Hawks weren’t going to offer a contract extension to Trae Young, their franchise point guard. The Hawks wanted to evaluate the roster they put together around him, after bringing in Dyson Daniels the year before and Kristaps Porziņģis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard this summer. Not to mention 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher and 2025 No. 23 pick Asa Newell.
The Hawks have been searching for some return to pseudo-contending, like when they reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2021. But the news yesterday that Atlanta and Young are working onfinding a new home for the four-time All-Star with a month to go before the trade deadline definitely raised an eyebrow or two. Now, we’re trying to figure out what the market for Young might even be.
Young is a curious and polarizing case as a player. In addition to the All-Star selections, the 27-year-old has one All-NBA Third Team selection. His career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists are ridiculous. That isn’t some peak carefully selected. Those are his career averages. He has the 13th highest-career scoring and third-highest career assist averages in NBA history. He also has the third-highest turnover rate in league history. For his career, he has shot 43.2 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from 3.
The Hawks are also 221-272 in the games he’s played. If you want to be fair and remove the first two seasons when the team was bad, they’re 174-178 with Young since the 2020-21 season. They’re 186-193 if you include the playoffs. They’re 2-8 with Trae this season and 15-13 without him. He’s productive, and yet something is lacking. Some of it is his fault as a low-percentage, high-turnover and bad defensive player. Some of it is the Hawks’ lack of continuity and structure.
What’s the market look like for Young? Nobody around the league seems to have a clear answer. Some folks I talked to said they keep hearing the teams desperate for talent like the Kings, Pelicans and Wizards are likely to trade for Young if the deal is right. But our own Sam Amick reported the Kings “have no interest.” If you were dreaming of a Trae-for-Zach LaVine swap, it’s time to wake up. The greatest dismissal of Young’s talent and impact seems to be the 8-28 Kings saying, “seat’s taken.”
My SiriusXM NBA Radio cohost and venerable NBA reporter Marc Stein reported the Wizards have emerged as a legitimate trade partner for Young. But it’s unclear which way draft capital would go in a potential deal that would likely include CJ McCollum’s expiring contract. Our Josh Robbins looked at how Young might fit with Washington.
The idea that the Wizards would be doing the Hawks a favor by trading for Young and would require draft compensation to absorb the remaining money (Young makes $45.9 million this season and has a player option worth $48.9 million for next season) seems ridiculous. And yet, maybe that’s legitimately the case.
San Antonio pursued De’Aaron Fox last season when there were rumors leading up to the move about Young pairing with Victor Wembanyama. Rumors of Young to the Lakers once existed before Austin Reaves took a leap or two. Now Young is left wondering if any team will be aggressive in acquiring him before Feb. 5.
Sam Vecenie has three Trae trade ideas that make sense — and four that don’t.
The last 24
Celtics continue to rise
📈 Power Rankings! Law Murray has New Year’s resolutions and new rankings. Boston is up to fourth.
🟠 Like father, like son. Carmelo Anthony’s son plays for Syracuse. Kiyan knows what that means.
📲 Hang up. Would anybody want to trade for Dillon Brooks? Mat Ishbia said don’t even try.
🤔 Trouble brewing? The Thunder have the best record, but they’re 6-6 in their last 12. Time for concern?
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Trae timeline
The Hawks’ tumultuous path to now
It’s been quite a journey for Young and the Hawks over the last seven and a half years. Here’s a timeline.
June 2018: Hawks trade the third pick in the draft (Luka Dončić) for the fifth pick (Young) and a 2019 first-rounder (ended up being Cam Reddish) on draft night.
June 2019: Young finishes second to Dončić in Rookie of the Year voting.
2019-20 season: Young is an All-Star and averages 29.6 points and 9.3 assists with a 59.5 percent true shooting in his second season.
2020-21 season: Hawks fire coach Lloyd Pierce midseason and replace him with Nate McMillan. Young leads the Hawks to the conference finals.
2021-22 season: After a 4-5 start, Young says, “It’s regular season. I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot more boring than the playoffs. You got to find that motivation to play like the playoffs.” The Hawks lose in five games in the first round.
June 2022: Atlanta trades multiple firsts and a swap to San Antonio for Dejounte Murray.
2022-23 season: Hawks fire McMillan midseason and replace him with Quin Snyder. They lose in the first round in six games.
July 2023: Atlanta trades John Collins to Utah for Rudy Gay and a future second.
2023-24 season: The Hawks win 36 games, lose to Chicago inthe Play-In Tournament.
July 2024: Atlanta trades Murray to New Orleans for a package that includes two firsts and Dyson Daniels.
2024-25: The Hawks win 40 games and lose to Orlando and Miami in the Play-In Tournament.
Summer 2025: Atlanta adds Porziņģis, Kennard and NAW with trades and signings.
2025-26 season: The Hawks are 17-20 and sitting 11th in the East. Young has played 10 games.
About last night
Cade and the Pistons smacked the Knicks
Everybody has been aware of the Pistons and their great start to this season in the wide-open East. But for the most part, it feels like everybody (myself included) has assumed someone like the Knicks or maybe even another team would eventually establish itself as the real power in the conference. And maybe that will still happen, but Detroit (27-9) decided to dominate the Knicks last night, 121-90.
The Pistons outscored New York 57-36 in the second half and made this beyond a laugher. Is it a coincidence this happened on the same day James Dolan made a rare interview appearance and said anything short of a championship would be a disappointment for the Knicks (23-13)? You never know with Jimmy D! Cade Cunningham had 29 points and 13 assists in just 29 minutes. A stark contrast from Jalen Brunson’s 25 points with six turnovers and zero assists. Detroit did all of this without Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris and Caris LeVert. That was a statement.
Rockets 100, Suns 97: No Alperen Şengün. No problem for Kevin Durant against his former Phoenix squad. With the game tied at 97, Durant got the ball on the right wing extended, took two dribbles and drilled the 3-pointer. He finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and told the Suns to go home.
Raptors 118, Hawks 100: For the second time in three days, Atlanta fell to Toronto. The aforementioned Young didn’t play in either game, and the Raptors’ defense stymied the Hawks, holding them to sub-40 percent from the field. Scottie Barnes led Toronto (22-15) with 18 points, 10 assists and eight boards.
Clippers 103, Warriors 102: John Collins goaltended a shot in the fourth quarter that was called a legal block. Steve Kerr got T’d up twice when he was incensed about it and got tossed. Collins made one of the free throws. Steph Curry eventually fouled out, and Jimmy Butler missed the game-winning attempt. And now the Clippers (13-22) have won seven of their last eight.
Celtics 115, Bulls 101: Jaylen Brown had 14 points on 6-of-24 shooting (maybe he was trying to win the 2010 Finals MVP?) as he came back down to earth a little. But the Celtics dominated the first half to grab the easy victory. With the Knicks’ loss, Boston (23-12) moved to second in the East.
Hornets 124, Thunder 97: Yes, this score is real. Yes, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren all played significant minutes for OKC. Yes, the Hornets (13-23) kicked their butts. Yes, Charlotte had 21 turnovers. None of it mattered.
Nuggets 125, 76ers 124 (OT): Denver (24-12) didn’t have a single one of its preferred starters for this game. And it still went into Philly (19-15) and won. Yes, the Sixers had their guys healthy. But Jalen Pickett had 29 points, Peyton Watson had 24 and Zeke Nnaji had 21 off the bench.
Blazers 137, Jazz 117: Deni Avdija had 33 points, nine assists and eight boards in 29 minutes and Shaedon Sharpe had 29 points as the Blazers (17-20) made this one a laugher early.
