No one ever thought it would end this way, and yet here we are.
On Wednesday in the middle of home game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Young was salary dumped traded for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. That was it. It’s a sad ending that precipitated quickly — quicker than all of us can reasonably grasp.
But let me try anyway.
Trae Young was a lightning rod for discourse before even arriving in the NBA.
At Oklahoma, he was a one-man offense in 2017-18, leading the country in both scoring and assists
per game averages. His logo distance bombs and frenetic pace of play produced ESPN-ready highlights on a weekly basis.
When he dropped 30, it was headline news. When he had a shooting slump, it was headline news. No matter what, Young was at the front and center of the college basketball world.
Then on draft night, he captivated NBA audiences as well without even dribbling a ball. The draft trade heard around the world: Luka Doncic and Trae Young traded for each other (and what would become the 10th overall pick in Cam Reddish in the 2019 draft).
It’s beyond fair to admit that the Hawks got the worst of that trade — and yet that moment was the beginning of a new era behind a supremely unique player.
For so, so long in Atlanta, all I heard was the Hawks never attract superstars. Despite this great city being a center for music, arts, television, movies, and culture (and the weather ain’t bad neither), rich and famous athletes always preferred other locations to the A.
Joe Johnson?
Great player for sure — but was he a superstar?
Well, he was traded for and given a superstar contract. Then in 2010, he was given an absolutely massive max contract — one even bigger than LeBron freakin’ James who famously headed to South Beach that offseason. He was a quiet assassin who got his 20 and five and had a flare for buzzer beaters.
But the Hawks remained the Hawks, and no one across the country noticed when the team was knocked out in the first or second round. Johnson was unceremoniously run out of town two offseasons after his megadeal.
Al Horford?
Homegrown lunch pail player who everyone loved — but was he a superstar?
At the end of his five-year extension off his initial rookie contract, the Hawks asked themselves that very question. Should we pay this jack-of-all-trade player a full maximum contract? That answer was no, and Boston’s was yes. That was 2016, and Atlanta Hawks fans were left to watch Horford produce from afar in two stints in Boston including during a 2024 title run.
Dwight Howard?
Just kidding. Let’s not revisit that one.
Since Dominique Wilkins was traded in early 1994 (that event is still a gut punch), the Hawks just never quite found a player who could galvanize the fanbase and connect with the city in that way.
Until 2018.
Trae Young was (and is) a superstar with a bullet. This is not an on-court impact argument — this is a pop culture, news headlines, and team merchandise argument.
He put the Hawks on the map, even for just a moment in time. His audacious lobs to John Collins (sometimes off the glass!), nutmegs, and dizzying array of live dribble passes were instant viral hits on Youtube, TikTok, Twitter X, wherever the youth get their dopamine hits.
Sure, over the first two and a half seasons of his career, many people argued that it was all flash and no substance. The Hawks went 63-120 (.344) during Lloyd Pierce’s tenure coaching Young and others from the fall 2018 until the spring of 2021.
Did Young’s penchant for flamboyance over results get Lloyd Pierce fired? Is he now a coach killer?
Well, the 27-11 finish and subsequent run to the Eastern Conference Finals under Nate McMillan quieted those critics. Shoot, Trae Young himself quieted the numerous critics in Madison Square Garden on that fateful day in 2021.
Atlanta was relevant. No more of just a passing mention from national outlets.
The Hawks were here.
Sure, team success has been much harder to find since, but Young stacked up four All-Star Game appearances, countless 25-and-nine seasons, an assist crown in 2024-25, and all sorts of other individual accolades.
He launched a shoe line. He launched a podcast. He even ad-libbed on a track with Quavo and 2 Chainz. He was Atlanta culture.
We have now arrived at the end of the Trae Young era, and this is my eulogy.
Young was equal parts brash, confident, and ostentatious. He became a villain to many. He rubbed colleagues the wrong way.
But through it all, he was always starry.
When the clock ticked under five second in a close game in the clutch, he never backed down from launching something ridiculous.
The reality is the team since 2021 hasn’t been good enough, and his desire for an extension clearly didn’t line up with the organizations plans anymore. And so Young is now in the District of Columbia, and we must find a way to move on without him.
Even fond mental memories fade, but digital memories are forever. Highlight reels live on. Basketball-Reference stats are etched into industrial servers.
We can always revisit the Trae Young era in whatever fashion we find most comforting. But the Hawks had a true, genuine superstar — someone larger than life even at his physical stature.
And that’s something — and someone — we can find joy in reminiscing about.
