The Atlanta Hawks are now three years removed from their Eastern Conference Finals run and find themselves as a first round exit from the playoffs for the second consecutive year. They were eliminated in six games by the number two seed Boston Celtics. Now the Hawks do deserve some credit here as many expected them to be swept or lose in five games at best. That being said a first round exit is still nothing to celebrate as they enter the offseason with not much to be happy about. They finished the season 41-41 and as the seventh seed. Not exactly the finish they had hoped for after the big offseason acquisition of Spurs all-star guard Dejounte Murray. Murray came at the hefty price of three first round picks, Danillo Gallinari, and a draft swap. While Murray was a good addition and had a solid season for the Hawks it’s hard to say he played up to the price that it took to get him as that much draft capital is a lot for any player that isn’t instantly making you a championship contender. At the time of the trade Murray’s fit alongside Atlanta star Trae Young was questionable at best. Both were ball dominant guards with each of them posting above average usage rates. Alongside Trae, Dejounte would go on to average 20.5 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assist while continuing to be an elite defender with 1.5 steals a game. Those are good numbers, but according to statmuse.com Dejounte Murray performed better without Trae and averaged 25.3 points, 8.3 assist, and 5.6 rebounds on better efficiency from three and a similar percentage from the field in the seven games without Trae. This poses an interesting question for the Atlanta Hawks. They have two all-star caliber guards who have conflicting playstyles, little to no draft capital, and not much cap space to work with. Do the Hawks move on from Trae Young who has had his fair share of problems with Hawks coaching staffs in the past and hasn’t been able to bring the Hawks much playoff success in recent years. 

Trading Trae Young would allow the Hawks to recoup the draft capital in the Murray trade and possibly pick up another star player or rotational pieces for a team that desperately needs to retool. The trade value for Trae Young will still be high as he just averaged a double-double while leading the league in total assists. This may lead you to ask if he’s this good then why trade him. Well like previously mentioned his playstyle hasn’t translated to much playoff success. The Hawks have been first round exits the previous two playoffs. Last year, Trae Young was abysmal, averaging 15 points and 6 turnovers on 32% from the field in a 5 game series against the Miami Heat. This year, his overall stats looked much better averaging 29 points and 10 assists, but still his overall efficiency was horrendous averaging 4 turnovers a game and shooting only 40% from the field. Trae Young has also been problematic with the Hawks coaching staff in the past. Early on in his career he had problems with then head coach Lloyd Pierce who was fired after three seasons in Atlanta and replaced by Nate McMillan. Things were good with McMillan at first, but this previous year there was a lot of drama brewing in Atlanta after Trae refused to show up for a game after skipping a shootaround that Coach McMillan wanted him at. Between the ongoing drama and poor play of the Hawks Coach McMillan was fired and soon replaced by Quinn Snyder. It may be a good idea for the Hawks to avoid any future drama and move on from Young before it starts while also being able to regain as many assets as possible to help out their roster. 

Outside of the two all-star guards there isn’t much excitement on the Hawks roster. They have center Clint Capela who continues to be a consistent double-double for the Hawks. While not a bad center Capela is nowhere near the top echelon of NBA centers. Then they have John Collins who continues to be in trade rumors year in and out. Collins is an intriguing case and was once seen as one of the young cornerstones of this roster. He once averaged 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds a game all while shooting 40% from behind the arc. That has since fallen off a cliff as this previous year he averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds a game with a pitiful 29% from three. Unfortunately for Collins this sharp decline can be traced back to a gnarly finger injury in the 2021-22 season that never healed properly. He has only shot 28.8% from three since the injury. Atlanta does still have young forward De’Andre Hunter who has yet to fully blossom. The former 4th overall pick has only averaged 13.9 points in his career, but has shown he can be a reliable three point shooter at 35% on his career. 

There is a lot that needs to be done to build this team back up to a championship contender. With a lackluster roster and little to no assets to make it better the only route for Atlanta to have a quick retool may be to move on from their star Trae Young and should at the very least listen to calls for him. The style switch for the team could help other young players on the team blossom and promote more of a team style of play rather than having the offense always run through Trae. Will the Hawks move on and make this Dejounte Murray’s team or will they run it back with the two guards and see if it works this time after a very disappointing season.