The Atlanta Hawks Should Follow The Knicks Blueprint Of Building Around Jalen Brunson

Jackson Caudell | May 3, 2024

Nov 2, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) is fouled as he drives to / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

What a postseason that Jalen Brunson is having for the New York Knicks.

He scored at least 39 points in each of the last four games of the Knicks series vs the 76ers, guiding New York to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second straight season where they will face the Indiana Pacers. Ever since Brunson signed with the Knicks, he has taken over as the their best player and become one of the stars of the league. Most assume that you can't build a contender around a smaller point guard, but Brunson is showing that it can be done if you put the right pieces around him. Because of his size, Brunson is always going to struggle on defense, but the Knicks have done an excellent job of making moves to ensure that he can be successful in the postseason.

Like Brunson, it does not seem like it was that long ago when Trae Young was the star of the playoffs. He came into Madison Square Garden and torched the Knicks in five games, helped upset the No. 1 seeded Philadelphia 76ers, and then was playing great to start the Eastern Conference Finals vs Milwaukee. He was injured in game three and was not at full strength for the rest of the series. Despite losing the series, Young was showing he could overcome some of his flaws as a player defensively if the right team was put around him.

However, the Hawks have done a poor job of surrounding Young with the proper pieces, unlike the Knicks with Brunson.

After making the run to the Eastern Conference Finals, some (not all) of the moves the Hawks have made have been detrimental to building and making the team better. They chose not to re-sign Delon Wright after the 2022 first round loss to the Miami Heat. Wright was a very good backup point guard and excellent point of attack defender, something Atlanta sorely misses. They could have re-signed him, but chose not too.

The biggest mistake though was making the Dejounte Murray trade. Murray is a very good player in his own right, but he and Young don't pair well together on the court. Many analysts who cover the league criticized the trade at the time because of the perceived poor fit together and it has proven to be that. The Hawks sent a ton of draft capital for Murray, but the results have been a first round exit vs the Celtics last year (in which Young played phenomenal) and then a loss in the play-in tournament this year. That was the Hawks biggest move to try and add a star piece around Young, but they made the wrong choice. They either should have been more patient or tried to find a better trade target, such as then Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

Later that same summer they traded for Murray, Atlanta chose to trade Kevin Huerter, in what was a salary dump move. Huerter was one of the Hawks better young players and would help this team currently, but they traded him to Sacramento for a protected 1st round pick, Justin Holiday, and Mo Harkless. The Kings pick has not conveyed yet and neither Holiday or Harkless is on the team any longer.

At last year's trade deadline, Atlanta made a solid move to acquire Saddiq Bey from the Detroit Pistons. While Bey is a solid player, he is not always the best fit alongside Young because of his defense. As a rotational player, Bey fits fine and that is probably his best role.

Last summer, the Hawks traded forward John Collins in what should be considered another salary dump. Atlanta mismanaged Collins's situation and kept him in trade talks for too long. Collins, who is a really good player, only brought back a 2nd round pick and Rudy Gay.

After drafting Onyeka Okongwu 6th overall in the 2020 draft, they have kept Capela for too long and even extended him. Instead of trading Capela for assets and going with Okongwu at center, Atlanta is now paying two centers and Capela's trade value has gone down.

Not every move Atlanta has made has been bad, in all fairness. Drafting Jalen Johnson and Okongwu have been good moves and both Kobe Bufkin and Mouhamed Gueye have shown promise.

The Knicks have made seemingly all the right moves around their star point guard to try and maximize their team.

New York made great moves by trading for Josh Hart and OG Anunoby and signing Donte DiVincenzo. Until he was injured recently, the trade for Bojan Bogdanovic had been good for New York and was paying off. Hart, Anunoby, and DiVencenzo are all good perimeter defenders and three point shot makers, while Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson are good lob threats at the rim and good rebounders, not to mention good defenders. They all complement Brunson very well.

The lesson here should be that the Hawks can win with Trae Young if they put the right pieces around him. He and Brunson are similar players with similar vulnerabilites on defense. Surrounding them with the right pieces can be challenging, but it is doable.

Just look at what the Knicks are doing.