Trae Young Trade Rumors: Recent Rumblings are 'Legitimate' That Hawks May Deal Star

The Atlanta Hawks have built around Trae Young for the past six seasons, but that time may soon end.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon called trade rumors surrounding the guard "legitimate" during a discussion with Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post (37-minute mark), adding that "rumblings about the possibility of Trae Young actually being traded, only recently has that been something that you would even think would be a consideration for the Hawks."

Young has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers in particular this season as the Purple and Gold potentially look to add a third star to the LeBron James and Anthony Davis combination during the upcoming offseason and maximize a title window as they both age.

Yet doing so would require a trade, as the Hawks playmaker is signed through the 2026-27 campaign with an early-termination option for the final season on his contract.

Atlanta made Young its franchise player during the 2018 NBA draft, and things seemed to be trending in the right direction with a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in his third season.

However, the Hawks haven't won a playoff series since as things have stalled into neutral even after bringing in Dejounte Murray ahead of last season.

Atlanta went .500 in 2022-23 and lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round. It has been worse this season at 35-40, which is 10th place in the Eastern Conference. It is five games out of the No. 8 seed and will surely have to win two games in the play-in tournament just to advance to a daunting first-round playoff matchup.

Young is still a star player who can hit from well beyond the arc and take over for extended stretches of games. He is averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 37.1 percent from deep in 2023-24.

Someone like that should net plenty of draft capital or young players in any trade, which could help the Hawks reset with an eye on the future instead of their recent constant grind of being near the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.