The Atlanta Hawks had a surprisingly quiet trade deadline on Thursday. After weeks of rumors involving players like Dejounte Murray, Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Hawks were one of only five teams to make it through the entire regular season without completing a single deal. Now, we have an idea of why that might be the case: they might be gearing up for major changes over the summer.
According to Yahoo's Jake Fischer, many of the teams that negotiated trades with the Hawks ahead of the deadline came away from those conversations believing that All-Star point guard Trae Young could become available for a trade during the offseason. Whether or not he does could depend on how the 22-29 Hawks finish this season.
Young is still only 25 and he has three guaranteed seasons left on his contract. Still, Atlanta's overall outlook with him does not appear to be particularly bright. It is out multiple first-round picks after trading for Murray, and that partnership largely has not worked. Additionally, the Hawks are already nearing the luxury tax for next season and will have to shed salary if they want to make any major additions.
In the period leading up to the deadline, Marc Stein reported that head coach Quin Snyder was pushing for the Hawks to keep Murray. If that's the case and the Hawks do wind up deciding to break that back court up, we know Murray has at least one powerful backer within the organization.
Fischer mentions the Lakers as one team that would potentially be interested in Young, though almost any team seeking guard help likely would be. While Young is a weak defensive player, he is among the best generators of team offense in the NBA. He is averaging over 27 points and nearly 11 assists per game for Atlanta, and the Hawks have typically been among the best offenses in the NBA during his tenure.
There's plenty of time between now and the offseason for the Hawks to make a decision. Perhaps they climb the standings with a relatively healthy roster and convince the front office to stand pat. But the Hawks have not played well enough this season to justify the assets or the dollars that went into building this team. If things don't improve quickly, significant changes of some sort will have to be made.
