Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young mutually exploring trade options: Reports
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Trae Young has missed 28 of the Atlanta Hawks' 38 games this season and he is currently sidelined by a quad bruise. Young is averaging 19.3 points and 8.9 assists per game – both the lowest since his rookie season.
PHOTO: IMAGN IMAGES
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ATLANTA – The Atlanta Hawks and point guard Trae Young are working to find a trade destination for the four-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star, according to multiple media reports.
The Hawks and Young have remained in contact about his future with the organisation since Atlanta elected not to offer him a contract extension last off-season when he became eligible, according to ESPN.
ESPN also reported those talks have escalated over the last week. Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported on Jan 5 that the Washington Wizards had emerged as a “legitimate potential trade destination” for Young.
Young, 27, has spent his entire career in Atlanta since the Hawks acquired him in a draft-and-trade deal with the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA Draft as the fifth overall pick. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in assists (4,837) and three-pointers made (1,295).
His career average of 9.8 assists per game is the third-highest in NBA history, behind only Magic Johnson and John Stockton.
Young, a third-team All-NBA player for the 2021-22 season, led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2020-21 campaign. Atlanta failed to make it out of the first round the next two seasons and also could not escape the play-in tournament the last two campaigns.
Young has missed 28 of Atlanta’s 38 games this season, and he is currently sidelined by a quad bruise. He is averaging 19.3 points and 8.9 assists per game – both the lowest since his rookie season – in his limited action this campaign.
The Hawks are 2-8 with Young this season and 15-13 in his absence after the 118-100 loss at the Toronto Raptors on Jan 5.
Jalen Johnson’s emergence (averages of 23.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 8.4 assists this season) in his fifth campaign has filled the scoring void with Young sidelined.
Over eight seasons and 493 games (all starts), Young has averaged 25.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 9.8 assists per contest.
In on-court action on Jan 5, Brandon Miller scored 28 points to help lift the Charlotte Hornets to a 124-97 road victory over the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder.
This was the Hornets’ first win against the Thunder since March 2023 and the first for any Eastern Conference opponents in Oklahoma City in a regular-season matchup since March 2024. The Thunder had not lost to an Eastern Conference team anywhere since Jan 8, 2025 at the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Thunder had not scored fewer than 101 points in any game this season, nor had they lost a game by more than 20 points before the Jan 5 blowout.
In Detroit, Cade Cunningham scored 29 points and handed out 13 assists to propel the Pistons to a 121-90 victory over the New York Knicks in a duel of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Boston Celtics overtook the Knicks for second spot in the conference with a 115-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls. REUTERS, AFP
