New Blockbuster Trade Proposal Sends Trae Young To Brooklyn For Ben Simmons + Three-First Round Picks

Will the Atlanta Hawks Trade Trae Young this Summer?

Dec 6, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) shoots against Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges (1) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA offseason is officially underway and the rumor mill and trade speculation is going to kick into gear in the coming weeks, especially with the 2024 NBA Draft on the horizon. The Atlanta Hawks are going to be a team in the middle of a lot of rumors in the coming weeks. They hold the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, they are likely going to need to make a decision on the Trae Young/Dejounte Murray backcourt, and other players such as Clint Capela, De'Andre Hunter, and Bogdan Bogdanovic could be available. The front office for Atlanta has a lot of important decisions to make and this team is likely going to look much different in the coming weeks.

Before diving deeper into this, I still think Young will remain in Atlanta when all is said and done this summer. It seems that Atlanta is heading towards breaking up their backcourt of Young and Dejounte Murray, but that could mean that Murray is the one who is traded. Atlanta was shopping Murray this season, including to the Lakers. There have been numerous reports from "Rival Executives" about the Hawks possibly trading Trae Young, but nothing from Young or the Hawks themselves.

If the Hawks did opt to move Young, there will likely be no shortage of teams interested in one of the NBA's premier point guards. One of those teams could be the Brooklyn Nets and Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley proposed a trade that would send Young to Brooklyn:

The trade: Trae Young to the Brooklyn Nets for Ben Simmons, Dariq Whitehead, a 2025 first-round pick (via PHO), a 2027 first-round pick (top-eight protected, via PHI) and a 2029 first-round pick (via DAL)

"While the primary talking point around Atlanta has been which star guard the Hawks would keep—Young or Dejounte Murray—the latest buzz suggests the answer might be neither.

"The thing I keep hearing from people is that if it was an over of one on FanDuel, Trae and Murray get traded and the over's one and you could bet under, push, or over, that some people seem to think both of those guys are getting traded is a thing I've heard," The Ringer's Bill Simmons said on The Bill Simmons Podcast (h/t Sports Talk ATL).

Young has his limitations—namely, anything connected to defense—but the Nets could be desperate enough for offense and star power to look past them.

If the idea is to win something of substance during Mikal Bridges' prime, then the talent base must expand fast. Getting Young, who rattles off 25-point, 10-dime double-doubles in his sleep, would go a long way toward that expansion.

The Hawks, meanwhile, could consider taking a blowtorch to their roster and resetting around Jalen Johnson, the No. 1 pick and whichever 2025 draft prospect they could tank their way to adding (if they can reacquire their pick from the San Antonio Spurs).

Simmons is an unreliable as they come, and Whitehead feels like a long-shot mystery box, but getting three first-round picks for Young would be big given his one-way play style and colossal contract."

Whether you like Bill Simmons or not, I would not consider him a reliable source on anything related to the Hawks. The thing some people forget is that Atlanta does not own their first-round picks for the next three years, making it impossible to do a full rebuild. If Atlanta could get their picks back, it would make more sense, but that does not seem to be a realistic option right now.

For this trade, I would not be in favor of the Hawks doing this. Ben Simmons has been a total non-factor over the past few seasons and while he is on an expiring contract, I would not want to take a gamble on him at this stage. Whitehead is an ok player and getting some picks for the future instead of having none is nice, but none of these picks will likely be high picks. Maybe Dallas is in a much different spot in 2029, but I would not count on that. For one of the NBA's best offensive players, this return is not good enough, even if Simmons suddenly rediscovered his old self. I think this makes the Hawks a worse team and don't think they should pull the trigger on this trade.

Buckle up for what is going to be a wild month ahead.