Hawks point guard Trae Young is in his second year in the NBA, averaging 28.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Yet despite his amazing season, the Hawks are 9-32, possessing the worst record in the Eastern Conference and only half a game up on the 9-33 Golden State Warriors. The Hawks are bad and it's not Young's fault.
The only player who the Hawks can have confidence in being a quality piece to build around Young is third year power forward John Collins (17.0 points & 9.7 rebounds). Collins was suspended for the first 25 games of the season due to failing a drug test, but now is back, helping to take some of the pressure off of Young.
As for the rest of the team, it's a bunch of unknowns. Jabari Parker (15.0 points & 6.0 rebounds) is playing well, but it's unclear if he'll be able to stay healthy and be a part of their long-term plans. Second year shooting guard Kevin Huerter (11.2 points) is looking like a promising player, but I'm not sure what his ceiling is. As for rookie forward Cam Reddish (8.3 points & 3.8 rebounds), he had a ton of hype coming out of Duke, but so far, it's too early to tell whether or not he'll be a reliable building block.
Perhaps the best path to getting Young some help is through the 2020 NBA draft. If the Hawks could add Anthony Edwards or James Wiseman to the fold, maybe that will do the trick. At the same time, you don't want to put all your eggs in the basket of the draft. Especially when you want to build a competitive team in the near future.
The good news for the Hawks is they have some time to think this through. Young doesn't hit restricted free agency until the summer of 2022 and by that time, they should have better pieces around him. At the same time, they can't procrastinate. They need to actively be thinking through all their options whether it's making a move at the trade deadline, clearing cap space for free agency, or going through the draft.
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