Another report Hawks “likely” to trade Trae Young or Dejounte Murray this summer

This season, the Atlanta Hawks have a -5.8 net rating when Trae Young and Dejounte Murray are both on the court (using Cleaning the Glass’ stats). They have a +2.1 net rating when Young is on the court, but Murray is off, and a +1.1 net rating when Murray is on and Young is off (the team has gone 12-10 with Young out due to a finger injury and Murray stepping into a larger role).

The Murray and Young pairing just has not worked, and going back to the NBA trade deadline the Hawks have been open to trading one of their stars (at that time mostly Murray). Now comes another report echoing what NBC Sports and others have reported, that the Hawks are “likely” to trade one of their stars this summer. This time it is Marc Stein in his substack, echoing something he has been reporting since February.

“Only the Hawks know their preferred path for sure. The most likely scenario, according to one league source, continues to be that Atlanta trades one of its two star guards before next season.”

Some of the questions the Hawks have to answer are: Which player will bring back more in return, and which one can they win building around? Young is an offense unto himself, an All-Star scorer and elite passer, averaging 24.6 points and 10.8 rebounds a game, but he is also a negative defender (who gets targeted in key moments) and is owed $138 million over the next three seasons after this. Murray has averaged 24.6 points, 9 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game while Young has been out and is owed $113.4 million over four years.

The Lakers have been rumored to be interested in Young — in part because Klutch Sports represents him — but multiple suitors would be in line for both.

What to do this summer is the long-term question, coach Quin Snyder and the Hawks face more of a short-term question first: With Young close to returning in time for the team’s Play-In Game against the Bulls on April 17 (and a potential game or games after that if they win). As noted above, pairing the two just does not work, and while Synder can stagger their minutes some, the fact is the Hawks were 24-32 in the first part of their season when both guards were around. How do the Hawks win and advance with both in the rotation?