Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and Atlanta Hawks potential paths for 2024 and beyond (with Wes Morton)

Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) hosts episode No. 1721 of the Locked on Hawks podcast, and he is joined by Wes Morton (@bloghawk, Peachtree Hoops). The show centers on Wes's article at Peachtree Hoops about the paths the Atlanta Hawks can take beginning this summer and the overall impact of the decisions made this summer.
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[@kashanteche]

All of these transplants from NY in Atlanta are the culprits of the trade Trae talk. He's the best pg in the NBA. #snapplefacts

[@OuachitaMtn]

I want to see Trae and Zion together. With Herb, Murphy, Hawk, Jose, new defensive center

[@C-nk4cr]

Why trade your 2 best players when the rest of the players (aside from JJ) need to go

[@coachdc404]

Because most of these stiffs are to dumb to know any better they follow what they are told

[@jeffmartin4596]

Because Murray and Trae on the court at the same time just hasn’t worked.

[@C-nk4cr]

@@jeffmartin4596 Hunter hasn’t worked (he’s already reached his peak & is inconsistent), Clint isn’t working (he’s missing wide open layups & has no offensive game), Garrison Mathews sucks & Vit just be out there running. Just trading Trae or DJ isn’t changing the fact that other guys are still the issue

[@jeffmartin4596]

@@C-nk4cr I agree with you on hunter ans capella. I just think it’s inevitable that Trae or Murray will be traded and I’d rather do it while we can get real value for them. We don’t control any of our draft picks for years. It’s just a mess and I feel like Trae is restless from not winning. I like both Trae and Murray but unless they get a real haul for Capella and hunter we’re just gonna be mid again. If we take sarr and get good assets for hunter/capella then I’m fine with running it back one more time but, this is for sure the last chance with both Trae and Murray on the roster.

[@patrickfleming6908]

Who cares about them draft picks. We don't draft well anyway. And don't play rookies. These fans talk about the draft picks. Note, if the team is good, you shouldn't care about they draft. That means the fans do really believe in this team. These fans sucks, big time.

[@HalseyHFW]

If Lively and Holmgren can contribute to good teams as rookies, why not Sarr?

[@LockedOnHawks]

He could! I would say Sarr is further away in some ways, and I am generally skeptical of rookies, but some end up helping!

[@charlestoowin]

Especially on the defensive end. We can give his offense time to develop, especially with him playing next to Trae.

[@William_Stephens]

The pod seems to be getting more eyes on it after getting number 1 pick. Looking at the final 4 teams, I think that we are closer than we’ve ever been to winning a title if we can add size and another piece like the mavs did. We don’t own our picks , there seems to be an evident changing of the guard where the stars of yesteryear are no longer dominating the league , and quick fix super teams are quickly falling out of favor . With Trae, Jalen , No 1 pick and another piece the hawks can be legit contenders, but I will say this, Trae has to become a better leader. He doesn’t have to be a vocal “rah rah” guy but our best player can’t be a net negative on leadership and for some reason Trae’s vibe is off putting to team mates. If Trae can just lighten up and not come off as so finicky it can do a lot for the team. You look at the way Ant’s leadership was able to transform the wolves and give Kat more confidence, Trae has got to fix the vibes around the team .

[@RJS2303]

Love reading Peachtree hoops during breaks at work

[@Beniii71]

If Trae gets traded to the lakers for those players and the 2 picks (which is already a terrible trade IMO) those picks are no longer valuable, they’re going to have Trae in his prime pulse AD and it’s the lakers so players will probably sign there, they will be good by the time those picks come in. Those picks will be awful, I doubt they would be in the lottery, I hope we don’t do a deal with the lakers if they decide to trade Trae.

[@commenton1]

Exactly, I'm not sure why Laker fans think we're stupid enough to trade Trae to them

[@ajevans1422]

@@commenton1because Laker fans expect a superstar every year

[@johnknoblauch7431]

Brad, could you go into detail about the differences between how the roster should be constructed if trae is traded vs if DJ is traded?

[@LockedOnHawks]

Might get into this on a mailbag

[@chrsdvdsn]

Send trae young to the pelicans for Ingram and another player or picks.

[@olivergossling3511]

Originally when the spurs traded Murray I was sad but now I’m so happy we did. I love Murray and still think he’s a great player but it seems like he lost touch with his defensive abilities ever since he left San Antonio. I wanna ask because I’m not to sure what’s up with hawks right now but do you guys think the picks that we have from 25,26 and 27 are gonna be high lottery picks or no?

[@coldbeatle89]

Brad- as always over the years- awesome stuff. And Wes is a great guest to have on- knows his stuff.

[@LockedOnHawks]

Thanks!

[@ajevans1422]

Maybe I am wrong about DJ but unless Jalen becomes the main guy. A team with DJ as your best player caps out as a generous 6th seed and I don’t think many fans were really optimistic in that month stretch where Trae was hurt and DJ ran the show. Give me the guy that can be the engine for a top offense in basketball.

[@MisterMJ49]

2pgs 🤔 Indy had Haliburton and McConnell out there, Dallas has Luka and Kyrie out there, Boston had White and Holiday out there. Ijs

[@LockedOnHawks]

Apples and oranges on most of this. Luka is 6'8, 250. White and Holiday are both big guards and plus-plus defenders. Haliburton is 6'5 and McConnell comes off the bench.

[@mastersplinter7833]

Atlanta will find a way to screw it up, we always do.

[@koolsmoothfan]

hawks are gonna hawk lol

[@MONKMONEY-hu1gw]

You guys are exciting and entertaining as watching snails race.... respectively.

[@LockedOnHawks]

thanks for the kind words

[@MONKMONEY-hu1gw]

@@LockedOnHawks hey. I still watched the whole video and liked. It could be worst. 😆

[@LockedOnHawks]

That’s true!

[@ethemerdogan1855]

merdogan1855 för 0 sekunder sedan Lets say atl wants to build around Trae, I would: 1. Trade down to #3 and get Tari Eason in the deal, Houston is high on him But I feel like they would do it for a chance to get Sarr. Also does Eason even get minutes? 2. Trade Murray and Capela for Ingram, Ingram is better than Murray But Murray is younger, got a really good contract and a position of need, Atl gets of Capela’s deal and Clint would be needed in Nola. 3: Select Risacher 4: Young Ingram Risacher Johnson Okungwu 5: Ingram is a SF to be sure but he got such a long reach, even If he gets blown by, he’ll still be able to bother a guard 6: look at that bench, Bufkin, bogie , Eason, Bey, Hunter. Aj griffin Will probably be dealt in this scenario. 7: tall, lengthy and in Johnson and Risacher’s case, really solid defenders’ to help Trae Young whose one of the Worst in the league in that side of the ball.

[@Beniii71]

I would argue the Red Velvet trade was just as big if not a bigger trade loss then the Collins one. It was definitely a bigger deal then the Bey trade

[@LockedOnHawks]

That didn't fall in the time window we were discussing, but the only counter is that they at least got a legitimate asset back for Huerter. (I still hated the trade)

[@vonkaiser3]

Nah as the 1st round pick may end up being a saving grace. Also he constantly hasn't played well for Sac and is on the trading block. Sac regrets making this trade. For once we came out on top.

[@LockedOnHawks]

there's still a decent chance that first round pick never comes; also huerter is on a bargain contract; he's making 7th or 8th-man money (less than 12% of cap); and tax avoidance was the primary driving factor in the deal, not basketball

[@adrianstorey5569]

I say let’s get Alex Sarr, trade Clint for a potential 3 and D guy and see what we can do with our existing roster especially if we can’t get a good deal on the table. I love Dj and think he can play as our 6th man and be a future Jamal Crawford/Lou Will/PatBev if they can’t make it work for them to play together for next season 😅.

[@LockedOnHawks]

Not trying to notpick but there's basically no way Murray is coming off the bench.

[@co30walkk]

Hunter need to go also he has reached his ceiling and it just isn't enough. DJ is good we should keep him, And I like the idea of getting 3&D player for Clint and drafting Sarr. This free agent class is loaded the Hawks should be very active in adding and subtracting from their roster this summer. One last think why are we holding on to Trent Forrest like he some kind of hidden gem? Not knocking the guy but we should fill out our bench with better players so we can contend with the big boys. The mediocre stuff need to die by the end of this off season for the Hawks. We the fans are sick of it.

[@valis14]

Brad, not sure why everyone you bring on this pod is so conservative about trading Trae or Dejounte. You have to trade one of them. HAVE TO. A must. This situation has become like one of those widely-repeated falsehoods that's been told so many times it almost doesn't matter if it's true anymore. And in this case, the truth's probably closer to ambiguous. Such is the times we live in. Trae and DJ or anyone around the team aren't immune to the noise -- hell, go ask Chat GPT 4 or Gemni AI chatbots about Trae Young and it mentions discord in the Hawks backcourt. Landry, Korver, Ressler, even Jaime Gertz, have to suck it up and deal one of them for a better balance for the roster and the harmony of the franchise. Sell the fanbase on the potential of the #1 pick and whoever you keep and roll from that. I'd lean towards Trae because the haul will be bigger and he's a lot more expensive. If you don't deal one of them and the Hawks stumble next year, hover around the play-in, things could get really ugly in that passive aggressive way. Why take the risk? And if Quinn doesn't like it, so what? Let him resign. TBH, Quinn doesn't have the resume right now to be complaining about not winning or totally having the roster he wants. FO should tell Quinn Snyder to take the Taylor Jenkins chill pill and just be thankful he coaches for a small market franchise that doesn't churn and burn coaching staffs the way other franchises do. Beats the G-League.

[@LockedOnHawks]

The entire concept of this episode was to lay out all the options. I’ve said repeatedly I would break them up.

[@vonkaiser3]

They don't "have" to trade either, especially if the right deal doesn't surface. A bad deal is far worse than no deal in this situation as we gave up a lot to get DJ. Honestly, you can construct a successful team by changing the surrounding pieces and or the offense and defense plays we run. This past season was a result of a poorly constructed undersized team at every position except the 3 most of the time. Can't have an all small gaurd back court without Mutumbo backing them up at the rim.

[@vonkaiser3]

​@LockedOnHawks well damn, thanks for the insight on us releasing Bud back in the day. I've always slid this to the side of our execs making bonehead decisions. Didn't know he asked for a release. Didn't we still pay him?

[@jeffmartin4596]

I understand wanting to trade Trae or Murray but Atlanta has one of the most wishy washy fan bases in all of sports and if you trade either of them and don’t get a Enough back to excite the fans then it’s a dumpster fire all over again. It’s perfectly feasible to keep Trae and Murray, take sarr, trade hunter and/or Capela and get some help. If you do trade one of the big two you better win and win now or this fab base won’t receive it. I’m an Atlanta sports fan of 40 years and our fans stink.

[@gdawgs101]

Trading Trae would be so astronomically stupid. He's the best player this franchise has had since Dominique and it's not even close. He's the only guy to ever average 30 and 10 for a season 3 times, he's can singlehandedly be the engine to the offense of a playoff team. He is far more irreplaceable than Dejounte and he's also 2 years younger Murray should be traded, Trae should be untouchable, and our FO is stupid for dangling Trae in the first place, especially for some of the lackluster return packages I've been seeing

[@JermelFromUnionCity]

I think the Hawks should trade away Capella

[@jar_wrld]

We are drafting Zac it’s going to be way better

[@klairich943]

he's not even going top ten

[@vonkaiser3]

Better not 😂

[@ecuadormanaog3849]

You say nobody wants to rebuild rebuild what this team has never won anything I'm 45 have seen eastern finals once come on u say waited 20 years for star tre ain't it u need to blow it up trade both

[@LockedOnHawks]

“blow it up” without the next 3 years of drafts is not a solution as i said, there is a way to overhaul the roster but one of the big reasons to do that (your own draft picks) is off the table

[@ecuadormanaog3849]

@LockedOnHawks I understand the pics being with san Antonio but u can recuperate pics from another team for both players and set ur self up for years with picks

[@LockedOnHawks]

you can. it's just harder. isn't to say you CAN'T rebuild but it's harder, and i don't think that's where they are right now.

[@ecuadormanaog3849]

@LockedOnHawks well it all may be a moot point if our owner is cheap in my opinion he's very cheap so probably won't matter anyways smh

[@vonkaiser3]

Can't set ourselves up for the future. If you think about it we would only be back to square one with one less star player and probably one less 1st draft pick then before. That my friend is considered a loss.

[@JermelFromUnionCity]

I think Atlanta Hawks should draft BronnieJames And bring Lebron James to Atlanta. The leadership will help. They should trade Capella,Hunter ,Matthew. Keep Murray, young,Johnson Kobe, steph Lundy, Mohammed.

[@charlesthomas4641]

The 6th option is to build around the No 1 pick. Trae was once a rookie and we did not have to wait until he gets his legs. This year more than any other we see that chemistry matters. You can’t win in this league if you don’t even try to play defense and we saw again that Dejonte had the respect of his colleagues. I say trade Trae and make up for the experiment by addressing the team’s weaknesses

[@LockedOnHawks]

You’re building with the pick in most of these scenarios.

[@coachdc404]

Its. crazy how you push analytics over base stats 😆 they are the 2nd leading guard duo in total points but the combo doesnt work ? Just ignore the terrible front court play ? Hilarious

[@LockedOnHawks]

Not sure I referenced a single “analytic” on this episode. And I’ve done 1,700+ episodes of the podcast. Pretty safe to say I’ve discussed the frontcourt. But no, the backcourt has not worked. The numbers paint that picture very clearly over 2 years. The team was literally at its worst this season when they played together.

[@coachdc404]

@LockedOnHawks when you say the combination of Trae & DJ obviously doesn't work 🙄 what is this based on? What numbers ?

[@LockedOnHawks]

team performance when they are on the court together, also their individual performance (efficiency, production) is worse when with the other

[@coachdc404]

@LockedOnHawks sounds vague, sir, but keep on with this false narrative ... just know it's terrible

[@coldbeatle89]

I mean net rating shows the Hawks are being outscored when both are on the court by 4 points- they outscore opponents by 2 when it’s just Trae, and when it’s just Dejounte it’s even or -1- can’t remember which.

[@marcusblack2575]

bro nobody want a dud who never play,no Brandon engrim