New Blockbuster Trade Idea From Bleacher Report Wants to See the Hawks Trade Trae Young and Tank For Cooper Flagg

The Hawks do not have control over their own picks for the next three seasons which makes it hard for them to bottom out and tank for Cooper Flagg

Jan 17, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) shoots three point shot over Orlando Magic forward Chuma Okeke (3) during third quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports / Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA Offseason has seen a ton of activity across the league, but things have slowed down a little bit and there does not seem to be a lot of moves left to be made. The Hawks made one of the biggest moves of the offseason by sending Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance, EJ Liddell, Cody Zeller and two first round picks. One of those picks is the Lakers unprotected pick in the 2025 draft and it could be a good pick for the Hawks, who do not have their own draft pick in next year's draft.

Coming into the offseason, there was a lot of speculation about what the Hawks would do with their backcourt of Trae Young and Murray, with most expecting them to split the pairing up. Atlanta did that and moved Murray and it seems like they are intent on keeping Young this season.

That has not stopped anyone from putting together trade proposals to send Young elsewhere. Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey put together this trade proposal for the Hawks to send Young to Orlando:

Trae Young for Cole Anthony, Wendell Carter Jr., Anthony Black, a 2026 first-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick

"The Atlanta Hawks already split up their ill-fitting backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray by sending the latter to the New Orleans Pelicans, but there are still legitimate questions about the former's ability to lead a title contender.

He's legitimately an all-time great offensive engine (he's 12th in career offensive box plus/minus), but there isn't a long history of small(ish) guards taking their teams all the way in the NBA. And Atlanta has yet to figure out how to deploy a competent defense with Young as its centerpiece player.

There's a real argument to move him, bottom out and hope for a second straight win in the lottery. If the Hawks were able to add Flagg to a young core that now includes Zaccharie Risacher (this summer's No. 1 pick), Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu, they might be in better shape for the future than they are now.

For the Orlando Magic, this deal costs them two important rotation players from their 2023-24 breakout campaign in Cole Anthony and Wendell Carter Jr., a promising young talent in Anthony Black and multiple picks. That's a lot to give up for a player with the weaknesses we just mentioned.

However, the Magic are also uniquely positioned to cover for Young's defensive flaws. They can play tons of length together with Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jonathan Isaac. And while Banchero and Wagner both have star point forward potential, giving them some wide-open looks generated by one of the game's best creators could do a lot for their efficiency.

This is sort of a step-skipping move and a pretty decent-sized bet on the culture already in place, but Young could take Orlando from a fun story to a team that could put a real scare in some of the East's top contenders."

This trade proposal does not make sense for the Hawks for a multitude of reasons, but the main reason is that they don't have their own draft picks for 2025, 2026, or 2027. If the Hawks wanted to bottom out and tank for Cooper Flagg, the only option to do that would be to trade Young to the Spurs and get all of their picks back. The Spurs signed Chris Paul and drafted Stephon Castle with the No. 4 pick. There were already reports of the Spurs not being interested in trading for Young this summer and it would make less sense to trade for him this offseason since they signed Paul. It is not as simple for the Hawks as just trying to bottom out and tank for Flagg. Doing this trade would only help San Antonio and not Atlanta.

Even getting to the pieces the Hawks get back in the trade, it does not make a lot of sense. Atlanta has Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, Bruno Fernando, Larry Nance, and Cody Zeller at center, meaning they probably don't need Wendell Carter Jr. Will the Hawks keep all of those centers? No, but I still don't think Atlanta would be interested in Carter Jr. Anthony Black is a very intriguing prospect, but Cole Anthony does not add much to the team. Having unprotected picks is nice, but the picks from the Magic are not going to be high picks.

It is useless to put trade packages together for Trae Young and say the Hawks should tank unless you give them their picks back. That scenario does not appear to be on the table this offseason and the only way the Hawks could get Cooper Flagg is if the Lakers help them out. This trade proposal is terrible for the Hawks and is not going to happen.

The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor gave his 15 observations of free agency and he does not think the Atlanta Hawks are in a good position going forward:

14. The Atlanta Hawks might be screwed.

"What Atlanta got back for point guard Dejounte Murray is fair: firsts in 2025 and 2027, plus Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, and E.J. Liddell. But it doesn’t come close to the three valuable firsts and one swap the Hawks originally gave up to get Murray from San Antonio. The Hawks’ current roster will barely compete for the playoffs in the East, and they don’t own the rights to any of their firsts until 2028. If the Spurs called today offering those picks back for Trae Young, the Hawks would happily say yes. But San Antonio is holding them hostage, opting to sign CP3 as a placeholder rather than make a trade for a point guard like Trae. As good as Young is, San Antonio would benefit a lot more from being patient. The Hawks have looked nothing but incompetent in recent years. They’d better hope that Zaccharie Risacher works out, or it’ll get ugly fast."

While I disagree with the overall point that they are screwed, this highlights the position the Hawks are in and why the Bleacher Report trade makes zero sense. Unless the Hawks get their picks back from San Antonio, they have no incentive to tank for Cooper Flagg and that means they have zero incentive to trade Trae Young.