Soon enough, Trae Young could be on the move.
Over the last week the four-time All-Star and his agents, Aaron Mintz, Drew Morrison and Austin Brown, have been having conversations with the Hawks over finding a trade, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Monday.
Young, who has been with Atlanta since a 2018 draft-night trade with the Mavericks, is “open minded” to playing for another team, per ESPN NBA writer Marc Spears.
“I don’t think he’s asking for a trade, but I don’t think he’s telling [the Hawks] not to trade him,” Spears said on “NBA Today” on Monday. “I’m hearing he’s open-minded to being moved… I do think he’d certainly be open-minded to a new uniform,”
The 27-year-old, a face of the Hawks franchise, has been in talks with the organization about his future over the last couple of months, including when Atlanta opted not to offer him contract extension. The guard is due just under $46 million this season with a $49 million player option for 2026-27.
It has been a tough season for Young, who has only played in 10 games due to various leg injuries including a right MCL sprain early in the year.
He is shooting a career-low 30.5 percent off 5.9 attempts per game — also a career-low — from beyond the arc. Young is also averaging 8.6 assists per game, which is a drop-off from his career-best of 11.6 a year ago.
Young sat out the last five games with a right quad contusion and last played against the Knicks on Dec. 17 in a 128-125 loss. He logged nine points, shooting 0-for-4 from deep, but had 10 assists and two steals across 31 minutes.
In his eight years in Atlanta, Young has left a big mark.
As the franchise’s all-time leader in 3-pointers and assists, he led the team to the playoffs three times, including a big run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 in which they lost to the Bucks in six games. Young cemented himself as a villain at Madison Square Garden during the five-game first-round series that year.
However, that history seems to be put to the wayside as the team appears ready to welcome in a new era with the deadline approaching on Dec. 15.
The Hawks (17-20) likely will lean into guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, averaging a career-high 20.7 points, as well as 24-year-old forward Jalen Johnson’s emergence as he averages 24 points, 8.5 assists, and 10.2 rebounds per game on 52 percent shooting from the field.
