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

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

on today’s show I’m joined by Wes Morton of PE Street Hoops to talk about the certain paths that the Hawks can go down in the next several weeks and months when it comes to the back court in particular but also philosophically from a overall perspective about the team because it’s a big summer ahead for Atlanta we’ll get into all that and more right now you are locked on Hawks your daily Atlanta Hawks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day [Music] Hello friends welcome to episode 1721 of the L on Hawks podcast I am your host Brad Roland coming to you deep into the night here in May and I’m joined on this podcast by my friend Wes Morton of Fe Tre hoops and you can find him at blog Hawk on Twitter also encourage you at the top of the podcast make sure you’re first listen each and every day please subscribe to this podcast anywhere you might find your podcasts that includes Spotify that includes Apple that includes YouTube etc etc and also today’s podcast is brought to you by Folks at game time download the game time app create an account use promo code lot NBA for $20 off first purchase terms apply and with all that said we’ll dive in right now to Wes Morton and a whole lot of things when it comes to the past the Hawks can go down and here we go with Wes I am joined today by my friend Wes Morton of PE Treet Hoops Wes how are you hey hey I’m doing good um doing all right how you doing I’m all right it’s a big summer for the Hawks as soon as I read something that you wrote I know I was going to ask you to come on the podcast to talk about it not just that we can get into other things too but I thought you did a really good job with this and it’s a good sort of framework for a show and I’ve sort of joked with listeners already that I’m trying not to do 100% draft content between now in the draft I’m sure you having that that temptation as well at P Hoops are are you getting comments about why why you aren’t doing more draft because I’m sure it’s happen to you yeah I mean not this is this is kind of weird because in most offseasons i’ would get you know kind of comments about you know where’s the draft content Etc this year I haven’t seen it just because the entire seems like the entire all the readers all my Twitter mentions are basically all in on you know one guy Alex SAR at number one yeah no need no need to consider anyone else pick the guy like who cares don’t don’t even look at anybody else in the field so that’s probably I saw the uh I saw the PO I saw the poll that you tweeted out of of the PE tree readers it was very very high percentage draft alexar and we’re not going to do a ton of draft talk on this podcast I’m not going to make Wes turn his uh his draft hat on for this for this show but there’ll be plenty of that I promise you but and obviously we can agree that what we’re about to get into with all the different paths the Hawks have they are now influenced by that pick I me it’s not it was never as clear and I know you wrote this too as these four paths being super delineated like very clear paths but also having the number one overall pick really adds a wrinkle to all of them or at least most of them it’s pretty interesting right yeah yeah my overarching kind of theme was you know this can be a real pivot point I think I think the franchise was always going to come to a pivot point this offseason regardless but with the pick it it it’s even more of a pivot point as far as you know where can you go from here it kind of gives you an excuse to do do a lot of certain things um depending on what what the direction the franchise is yeah it definitely helps to have I mean that’s not a breaking news thing but uh the possibilities are open by number one pick are are very clear but in case you don’t know what I’m saying about Wes’s peace I I I friend it before I brought you and I’ll say it again now basically what you laid out at peace troops. comom people definitely read the piece Beyond just listening to us but um these four kind of pathway choices the Hawks can make this summer with regard to the the big decision especially with the back court and Beyond the number one pick even before that the sort of national and local story is what are they going to do with the guard spots they’re the two best players two two highest paid players but everyone kind of agrees they don’t work and that’s one of those well I shouldn’t say everyone most people agree that they don’t work it’s never everyone I I want to try to avoid that but just broadly I’ll lay out what they are you can correct me if you want to uh and these are not in these are not in any any order basically it’s building around Trey and moving on from deante as one of the paths you have building around deante and moving on from Trey as one of the paths you have the the more nuclear option of trading both of them yeah which becomes really interesting which we’ll talk about in a second too and and then you have the one that almost no one is considering even which is just keep them both and try it again for a third season or Beyond if it works does that sound like a general generally what you wrote I don’t want to give it all way but you know it is what it is yeah that’s essentially it I mean like I said I think obviously the big decision is is what he do at the back court and that kind of informs where you go from here like including the number one pick you know you know maybe you know if you’re thinking about building around one guy versus the other it may influence your your your pick what you do with the number one pick so um whether you you take a certain Guy versus another certain guy or maybe you you try to trade it for for more immediate help so yeah that’s that’s the general gist of it and um May if you don’t know so it’s up on P Tre Hoops we’ll plug it at the end but um yeah the last option I think is probably an option that um isn’t considered very much like as you say like it’s almost kind of like you feel like you have to trade one of them but the the point I wanted to lay out was you know it might be kind of kind of silly but you know Trey Young’s under contract for another two years he’s got an early ter termination option after the third year Deonte is obviously his extension kicks in this year you got him four for four years certainly even if there’s discontentment in in the locker room or or or other things going on you you may see that there’s evidence that it’s not working you know you don’t have to move on from them like there’s there’s nothing really stopping you it may make for some awkward kind of bedfellows and um it may kind of prod you towards you know maybe that number one pick is okay you know why are we going to pick a rookie who’s going to take a couple of years to really contribute at a high level you would probably look towards uh moving that pick maybe for some more immediate help but yeah that’s that’s kind of the one I sort of wanted to throw out there very clearly I think it would be kind of silly to do that I think though I mean it’s a choice right and I know you you wrote that like you weren’t advocating any these it was more of a layout here’s all the data all that stuff and you know I’ve said before on the show like I I think that it is possible that they might go into next year with TR and Jon it is possible I’ve never said they’re definitely trading one I do think that the most of the league believes that they’re going to move on from one of them because I think you know you lay the numbers out in the article very well and people kind of know this I think they were plugged in but it wasn’t just la this last season was the more pronounced version where the two main lups with with TR de Jon were just like the worst quote unquote star pairing in the league by the Numbers this year as far as the team output was trante by a decent margin even and the two-year data is a little bit better but no matter how you spin it no one could really argue at least that I would believe could argue that it’s worked so far you might be able to try to argue that it could work in the future with a different maybe if you’re just dead in that front office if you’re Quinn you think you can just fix it and we want to keep these guys and we’ll and we’ll change other stuff I don’t think that’s the best option but I at least would understand it if you just decide that you know for whatever reason we haven’t figured something out yet now now we figured it out I have a hard time selling it personally but the way that you did is is the right way like you have these under contract they’re they are your two best players I mean there’s a world in which Jaylen becomes one of those top two players as soon as the season I would say maybe number one pick becomes in your top two players in a couple years but right now your top two players are traing jante so it’s like I get every once in a while someone a fan will ask me and they’re being genuine like why would we trade one of these guys they’re they’re our best players and it’s like well it’s it’s a reasonable point you know what I mean uh I think there’s more Nuance than that but and I think the real wrinkle that you mentioned briefly just a second ago is that if you wanted to really go in for now it might it might push you towards trading the number one pick and that is very aggressive because of what they haven’t been in recent days so I know I know you weren’t arguing for them to do that but like if you just I think people don’t don’t always think about this way if you just think about the Hawks as this team that yeah they got a little bit unlucky this year right but even if you think they’re a 500 team versus where they finished this year which is probably more reasonable I think the last couple years that’s a 500 team you don’t generally take a 500 team and trade the number one overall pick for a ready made win now player and expect to win the championship like I feel like if you’re tra number one overall pick you kind of be ready to like really really really contend right now and that feels like it’s kind of a long way away yeah no no I definitely agree with that um I mean I think it’s just just a matter of um kind of the undertones of well there there’s some obvious like I think everybody recognizes you know there’s there’s disappointment you know the players said so like you know there’s there’s obviously disappointment in terms of where they came in at and where where they think they would be um and just the idea that okay we’ll trying to fit these these pieces around you know train de jante maybe they just need tweaking um it it seems as though there would be some push within the organization to at least consider okay we we may need more immediate help than okay you you know we’ve got this kind of flammable situation that that could blow up I talk about you know the the the the clock is ticking to a certain degree we see interviews treyes putting maybe a little bit of pressure on the on the or organization talking about how he wants to win but you know he he has a little butt that or or he wants to be here in Atlanta but he also wants to win so so those sort of things prod you towards you may consider the kind of nuclear option of seeing what you can get for the number one pick um I even linked the some of Landry fields’s quotes right after winning the number one pick you know he he was pushing back G like you know we’ve decided what we’re going to do with it you know it’s a great opportunity we’re evaluating our options so so that that’s really all it is I I think we’re both in agreement to to know that like that that’s not going to be a real differen maker based on where the Hawks are now where they are going forward in terms of the money they’ve got tied up in the players like like you said they you know they’re they’re probably a little bit closer than the team they were last year which is you know seventh or eighth in the East without any changes maybe they can push towards top six but it’s just hard to find enough difference makers to really Vault you know to really find a way to to to take train of jeon for for the results theyve they’ put out over two seasons and uh find a solution that actually gets them to you know really contending in the East getting to you know seeing themselves as as a you know maybe a top four top five top six team in the East Today’s Show is brought to you by game time and game time is an author authorized ticket Marketplace in the NBA and that makes getting playf tickets even easier and faster for you than it was previously prices on the game time app actually go down it’s closer you get the tip off and they have kill main Deals they have all in prices they have used from receipts and also the lowest possible price guarantee and that makes G time a fantastic option to makes things easy for you across the board I’ve been using the game time app for a long long time 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code locked on MBA $20 off your first purchase download the game time app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed I didn’t even you know I think one other thing I mentioned in the piece is I really don’t know how likely any of these things are we can kind of talk about the other past as well but um I think the big the big hinge is the big kind of pivot is well like we need to really understand where all the camps stand in this where where’re we’re ownership front office but really you know there’s there’s kind of Whispers of okay does does Trey and his Camp want to be in Atlanta does dejon and his Camp want to be in Atlanta so um you know that’s that’s obviously not something I know it’s not something you know maybe they haven’t they themselves Trey young Deonte Murray haven’t decided themselves what they want um but but that’s going to inform you know which are the other three paths that go down um from from here like that that final path would just be if Trey and Deonte are both bought in to making this thing work staying in Atlanta long term making it work then that that’s that’s that’s a possibility but my guess is in all likelihood that that that doesn’t actually happen yeah and and I still think even if they were bought it even if you were to ignore any offc Court influence at all and just looked at the raw basketball with your eyes and also the data to say is this your best pairing you could Pro probably have the answer is still no for me but you’re right to point out that a lot of there always always other influences involved and you know anytime I say that some people push back like you know this is their job it’s it’s not about anything like that it’s not a negative on anybody it’s just that personalities matter when it comes to this stuff um from the team side too you know Tony russler might get involved he’s the owner he’s a Hands-On owner he might get involved you have this young front office you have a a powerful head coach that you brought in for a lot of money and then you throw in players and agents and all the way it all works and like inevitably you have some of the stuff kind of mattering and I got into it last year I know you heard this too you know the Trey stuff is kind of new like you said he’s putting some pressure on it feels like but we’ve never heard at least I’ve never heard that Trey wants out I think that could happen but I’ve not heard that to this point it was kind of this fine line with the jonte I guess four months ago now talking in late May about like I I heard repeatedly he was extremely open to being traded that isn’t the same thing as demanding to be traded but being open to be traded being I don’t know I don’t know if I want to say happy but certainly not pushing back at all for being traded from what I heard from that side of things back then does that mean he wasn’t bought in or does that mean it just was the heat of the Season he was kind of fed up or whatever they did say all the right things publicly you know TR jante had that podcast appearance where I know Bach report resurfaced it like six weeks later and act like it was brand new but it wasn’t it happened in April um but you know that doesn’t always pay the most accurate picture either so all that said we talked we talked we touched on it’s not the best pairing in the world they kind of know that but it also isn’t easy to change like trades are hard to make I’ve seen every version of a of a Deonte Murray trade in the last five months like they’re not none of those are like home runs you know what I mean you might you might find a double of a trade for de Jon Murray but I have not seen a trade that’s like fall on the floor yes please with with regard to Jon um taking a step back though and talking about the let’s just do the other nuclear option which is the try both option right um number one I’d be pretty surpressed just in the Practical world I’m not gonna tell you it’s impossible but based on what I’ve heard for a long time now I don’t think this team is ready to take a rebuild step they did that I mean you you you covered it I covered it it was a long process Tony was gritting his teeth the whole time coming out of the rebuild people have kind of Forgotten this people coming out of the rebuild Tony I think tried to step out on on the gas a little a little bit too early like we I know we argue at the time you know they probably weren’t ready to win yet when they kind of put their chips in on on that Gallow bogy summer it was like wait are they going a little bit fast here and that’s what happens when guys you know nobody likes to lose for multiple Seasons I say all that doesn’t mean you have to lose when you rebuild but if you traded TR and Deon yes you get a lot for them the combination of those two guys you get a lot of stuff back but I feel very confident in saying you wouldn’t make your team better in the short term it would be a long-term FOC move you get picks or whatever uh I won’t name names we talked about this a little bit online this week um people have kind of somehow memory hold or forgotten that the that the Hawks owe three first round picks to San Antonio and they don’t control their draft for three years so one of the reasons that you might do the nuclear option which again I’m not recommending and think the Hawks probably wouldn’t do but if you were arguing on behalf of that you got to keep in mind that one of the reasons to rebuild or get worse is to have your own picks get higher and the draft and the Hawks don’t have that for three years right so I say all that West like there are teams that have rebuilt on the Fly I’m thinking about the Nets like the nest did this Infamous re like mini rebuild where they traded all their picks the away and the kg trade it didn’t go very well and they had to rebuild because they were already bad and they had no picks and they figured out a way to be a pretty good a pretty decent team like they didn’t become a great team but they figured it out you know but like no one would want to do that on purpose like you you don’t choose that option on purpose so you had to write that that pathway it’s right you you did it well but is that a realistic outcome like do you see that as being in any way advisable given their current situation and I guess we could just throw out the fact that yes they could trade trade of dispurse that could happen that’d be the only way I suppose to make that but uh beyond that like do you see any any reason that they would even want to consider that even even in the fake world that we’re talking about now right no yeah I again I don’t know like I said some some of that’s that’s you know the the desires obviously the desires to to contend you know nobody wants to go through a rebuild I TR about that like like how painful like there’s kind of the snap judgment when when things aren’t going your way trade everyone rebuild and then you get you know half a season into the rebuild and people are friends are frustrated that why are they so bad it’s like weren’t you calling for that a few months ago well and you know as well as I do not to do the whole thing again but like you’ve lived here a long time like yeah people waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited for someone like young to come along and to proactively make that step now where they even when they were good this a lot of a lot of the city not all the city a lot of the city was like wake me up when we get a star for 20 years and like to to take and I know Trey’s approval rating is lower than it’s probably ever been locally at this moment in time I’m not really sure why that is but it is what it is it is lower than it has been but like that’s a I can’t say this is the way it should be but that is a part of the calculus to just realize what your fan like it would not be popular if the Hawks were willingly being like by the way’re we’re gonna be a 21 team again for a few years like No One’s Gonna like that yeah yeah no so I mean I’m glad you brought up the Nets like I said you know if you’re not obviously the the next three picks are owned by the Spurs or at least um you know you have you’d have a pick swap you’ve got you got controlled by the Spurs you have a pick swap you’ve got Sacramento’s pick which which may can pay next year or or or may never at all may never may not you may just get second Rounders after that but yeah yeah I mean that’s kind of the main impetus before rebuilding you you feel like okay well we’ll be in the lottery we’ll get picks but you know net obviously did that did that after without having their their picks they just had to get really creative you know they had to find ways to steal you know low firsts and seconds and try to develop guys from within you know what what I kind of wanted to bring up was you know this is a this is a coaching staff very focused on development now you can do development at every stage of the way you don’t have to be rebuilding to do development of course unless Millan of course yes you can just not do it at all if if you choose not to but but obviously I mean you know the progress a lot of the players have made you know for example in College Park this year right was was really big for them you know Ryan Schmid did a great job down there with them and we saw Kobe towards towards the end of the season really have an impact and um you know unfortunately moay Seth Lundy had some some injuries and things of that nature but V crae you know he’s a big success story out of the Hawks like he was in college park for you know a couple of months there so um this is obviously like I said staff really focused on the development so they kind of already have that kind of um mindset now now when it comes to obviously that doesn’t mean you again trade both guys but it is a possibility like I said if if if both camps are somehow dead set on getting out of Atlanta like you you may they may make a Ruckus In you know in the media and you may have some issues that point but no and I do think you know think is not no but I I I think that if they elected to trade one of the two especially let’s just say in this hypothetical they trade Trey right which I’m not advocating for I I I think Deon would be pretty happy being the number one guy in Atlanta playing for Quinn Deon likes Quinn he likes to have the ball I think I I would be surprised if Jon turned around and wanted out of Atlanta after they traded Trey that would that would be a surprise to me but you’re right like there is a there’s the crazy scenario where like everything implodes and you gota you have to do this stuff but I’m glad you mentioned the coaching staff because you’re right they they do prioritize development Quinn is very focused on that and has a staff that’s focused on that but Quinn did not take the job in Atlanta to rebuild the team yeah Quinn wants to win basketball games so the way you put it is perfect like they want to do both they really invested in College Park Quinn came from Quinn was a gie coach at one point he he values the G League that’s all right but I can promise you Quinn did not sign on to a 5-year deal in Atlanta thinking he’d be rebuilding in a year and a half like that was not part of the calculus and I think if he has anything to do with it at all he’s he’s not going to want to rebuild it might be shades of Bud you know F famously when bud got replaces the lead decision maker in the front office they brought in Travis bud did coach for a year but it was an Open Secret that bud wanted nothing to do with the rebuild and everyone knew it and he kind of accordingly and like that next year he was more forcefully getting his way out and ended up leaving because and nothing wrong with that it is what it it’s just the way you know again I I think Quinn would make his voice heard that we I I don’t really want to rebuild guys it’s not what I signed up for does that mean it wouldn’t happen no but he would probably raise his voice at some point T is brought to you by the folks that better help and we carry around things that create stress whether it’s big or small in our lives we keep bottle up actually starts to this negatively therapy is a safe space to get things off your chest also figure out how the work through things whatever that happens to be weighing you down at that point in time therapy is helpful for everybody you actually should learn positive cing skills help you better actually set boundaries for yourself therapy also empowers you to be the best version of yourself it’s not just for people that actually have major trauma in their lives I know I have my own stresses that comes to work and future Etc we can also benefit from getting things off our chest with Folks at better help you’re think about starting therapy at any point get better help a try it’s entirely online it’s design to be flexible and convenient to your schedule better help it’s even Ser schedule 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younger it’s not that hard decision for me quite honestly that’s just me but there are obvious challenges to building with Trey young there always have been I’m not ignoring those it’s hard to build with a guy as small as he is as defensively challenged as he sometimes is aough he’s gotten better there so and plus you have the the reality that he he might end up not wanting to be here too but of the numbers that you threw out there and we talked about them a lot like they’ve been better with Trey in general and better with Trey and without Deonte then the other way around um which isn’t a shock I think the offense it’s pretty clear to anyone I think that pays attention closely that the offense is way better when with Trey than Deonte the argument for Deon that I’ve heard at least the most recent reasonable one that I would say is like Deonte at the point you might be able to build a better defense I would agree with you on that the trouble with that is that you won’t be good enough on offense for it to really matter that would be my argument uh I won’t ask you to pick a side west but what do what do you make of those two again more practical it seems like options yeah yeah I mean that’s that’s kind of the the big Trust of it is you know putting a team around Trey is I think it’s I wouldn’t say fundamentally different than putting a team around deante but there are some there are some there different considerations you would have and so um yeah I mean like I said you know um youve brought up I brought up like the off office just functions better with Trey you know any season Trey’s been healthy with a you know somewhat talented like a somewhat you know obviously contending team to to a degree he’s put up top 10 offenses he’s he’s kind of a top 10 machine he’s a you know unique offensive weapon like um you know A lot’s made of a you know maybe he’s not the most efficient guy from the field but in terms of him creating advantages getting his teammate shots you know playing with pace and doing doing all the things you kind of want right he’s you know for all his you know maybe drawbacks and and criticisms like he’s he’s gone out there and produced and and led a highle offense now yeah um there there are drawbacks to it and you know I paralleled the Hawks with you know the Knicks just recently got eliminated the Mavericks you know they are drawbacks to having a guy who who kind of Demands the ball that much or or cly really really needs to operate with with the ball to to to a large degree have have that kind of high usage um and you know I would argue that the Hawks haven’t quite capitalized on that in the way they should at least post you know 2021 um in terms of how they built out the rest of the roster um so you know that that’s kind of the consideration you would take from that if if you decided okay tread our guys our franchise guys since 2018 this is a good time for a reset we’re going to move on for dejon um certainly the Market’s going to be whatever the market is for Dante like you you can’t always control that obviously they there were pretty heavy rumors they were trying to move him at the at the like you said Tred at least he was out there at the no and and the market was not overwhelming for him now they they had they had real offers for him and they were you couldn’t debate on whether they should have taken one or not but they had real offers and also in season trades are harder to make than out of season trades you would think that it would be easier and you might get a little bit more in the summer given that there are more teams you can play with the cat restrictions are a lot lesser just for everybody doesn’t always dive into the stuff it’s just way easier to make these bigger trades in June or July than it is to make in February that’s just the reality of in February basically it felt like there was like a two or maybe three team market for deante that might be five six seven teams in July I don’t I don’t know it’s too early to know but that’s that’s part of why you’re laying that out it’s like it’s just easier yeah yeah it it would just be yeah so you would be able to kind of obviously um you know maybe right I think that the the two things I brought up where I mean if you really wanted to you could maybe dangle that number one pick that doesn’t mean you’re trading the pick with d jante it might be the number one goes out and you get a a lower first round pick coming back somewhere you know you may trade that draft pick Equity with the jante to you know get a little bit better return but um yeah because because that’s going to go towards you know trying to build your team around Trey um you know one obviously one partner I brought up was the Pelicans that’s kind of maybe been the the sing almost rumored sort of link between the Haw and um you know there’s a lot of you know what can maybe putting Brandon Ingram or some sort of package sent around Brandon Ingram maybe after the Hawks now he’s obviously he’s 68 you know he he’s um I think a lot of he he didn’t have the best year in New Orleans I think he would he even said that at at his media day and the Pelicans seemed like they’re kind of moving off from him but you know if you were to give him M Trey young versus try them trying to use say a CJ McCollum at point maybe he can kind of tweak his his shot diet take take more threes um provide more length on the perimeter that the Hawks have had maybe pair them with say DeAndre Hunter and suddenly you’ve got two six eight guys next to Trey um you know maybe maybe Hunter still has to defend a lot of the big assignments but hear theed yeah exactly it’s it’s sort of like it it’s ch it’s challenging and like the way that I’ve seen people talk about it some is basically like especially nationally I feel like some people are framing it as like okay you trade whoever whoever you get the better return for and it’s like number one you’re gonna get more for Trey I’m fairly confident I’m not saying it’s 100% but I’m pretty sure you get more for Trey but like that’s not it’s not that easy like that that takes into account that that basically says that these these guys are the same player and they are so obviously not they play the same position and just to say it again I I I get pitch and hold some places that’s I think I like I’m super low in Deon I’m really not Deon is a really good player and that’s a good contract it’s a good contract really good player right it’s just that I I don’t think that I think and look if they had different pieces around him it be might be a little bit easier too like there’s not that there’s a world where you can build a really good team with the Jon as your point guard the trouble is that Atlanta doesn’t have the pieces I think that you would want to do that with I think deante would be probably best suited as like next to a guy who was like a lead play player as a wing I won’t name those guys to get people mad at me but um and Jaylen might maybe Jaylen gets there I’m not saying that he can’t but you know what I mean like it’s just a little bit harder I don’t know it’s it’s not as reductive as that and I think that there’s a lot of complication here I I don’t think people are silly to act like they should you know I I think people that wanted want to put trade out try out there in trade are not crazy inherently but you have to do it responsibly and for me the build around deante is is kind of a Nuance thing because if your plan is to have to Jon be your best player you’re not going anywhere yeah now if that I’m not saying that that’s what everybody means when I say that but if that’s what you actually mean then you’re your ceiling is like a 43 wi team in my opinion if he’s your best player I’m not saying Tre is your best player is a perfect option either because it’s obviously not like you would not pick Trey out of the whole league Wes if I asked you pick a pick how many guys you want as your best player you wouldn’t pick Trey in the top five or 10 you just you wouldn’t but it is I think for me that that’s kind of where comes out for me I I think it’s easier to see a team with Trey as the top two player on the team being a contender than it is with the Jon that’s kind of where I land especially given the rest of their roster constructions right now which again it’s gonna change but unfortunately this number one pick doesn’t always seem like it’s going to be uh a Superstar I’m not saying it won’t be but it’s not like you can look at this and be like this is definitely G be a superstar player it might just be like a really really good player which is really helpful too but you know yeah yeah like I said that’s that’s kind of when I when I wanted to sort of flush out with it the the One path trading Trey versus trading Deon yeah I mean I do agree with you you would you would most likely get more on the open market for Trey um and I do agree with you right deante is just not that of a player like like as an overall guy but I do think there is a path towards you know at least staying afloat and that’s kind of what I mentioned like if you do go down that path the idea is okay at the very least you know maybe you’re able to refigure some of the things like obviously they they have the Hawks have Opera in a man which they they want to avoid the tax they haven’t finished in the attack for under they do oh interesting it’s a little yeah you hadn’t quite noticed but yeah so so part of it is well you would want to be in a situation where you’re kind of like like we mentioned some of those Brooklyn Nets teams you want to at least float on water and be flexible kind of have have a cap situation that can be flexible for the next move down the line and because they and because of what we said earlier about not having your own picks yeah again I know there’s this mythical scenario where they trade try specifically to San Antonio for their own picks but that’s like a five if thing like that’s not likely to happen like people like people act like that’s way more likely than it actually is it’s not impossible that it would happen but that’s not likely let’s just say yeah and to your point Deon is cheaper than Trey for four years like if if you’re right if they keep their constraints their self-imposed constraints on spending let’s just say in this hypothetical just to take this decision away for a second let’s just say Trey wants out I’m I’m not reporting that I’m saying we find that out in a month right and the Hawks were like you know what instead of having this disable player that that doesn’t want to be here we’re we’re going to trade you Trey all right we’re going to trade you but we don’t want to but we don’t want to do the rebuilt thing so we’re gonna keep we’re gonna keep DJ and we’re gonna be as good as we can be during this time where we owe these three picks you get a bunch of stuff for Trey there’s still a world where you’re pretty a pretty good team right yeah I don’t I don’t know what you’re get from Trey for Trey but it’ll be something whether it’s picks that you can either flip now or use later um you probably you have to take some sol back you still have Deonte you still have Jaylen like you have bogy you have good players so you wouldn’t you wouldn’t just suddenly be bad that that’s the thing I want to be very clear trading Trey in and of itself does not make you a terrible team it makes you way worse but it does not make you the Pistons yeah one one thing you can create is is death and that’s that’s something you know arguably the Hawks haven’t had since 2021 like they we’ve seen they they may have eight or nine guys they trust but couple injuries hit and you know now they’ve now they’re really struggling so so over three fourward on your roster for a full season yeah yeah three four yeah exactly so you know I think that death can can maybe even you know that can kind of you know get you along during the regular season now when it comes to a postseason with the shorten rotation like you I think we’re both in agreement you would rather have a Trey young for you know for the postseasons than than not so you need that kind of ceiling raising sort of talent so so that’s that’s that’s kind of the idea well if you know again I don’t know what you would get back from Trey one one one idea that was put out there by Steph no um you knows y Steph’s good news um obviously the Lakers would Lakers are obviously a popular destination for um star players um they have honestly like almost exactly the salary they would have to match with Trey you could get some decent players like you know Austin Reed and ruy Haim mura so the idea of trading Trey is you’re not going to get a guy as good as Trey coming back most likely like I just don’t really see a scenario I don’t really see a team that’s has a player available like that and that would be like a one toone swap like you’re probably going to get that broken up into a few different players and a pick package so I would I would almost guarantee I mean I would almost guarantee even even with the jeante it’s hard to get a one for one yeah like true that’s why Ingram is such a popular name in a lot of ways because that actually is the rare like it kind of makes sense for both teams one for one swap with Trey like it would it would it would I don’t want to say 100% because I don’t I don’t do that 98% confident that it would be pieces you have to match salary but it’s probably with multiple players picks it would not be yeah and Lakers a great example now that package is not terribly exciting no not at all it’s just pcks like it’s picks in like filler salary not awful salary but filler salary there isn’t like a good that’s a harder sell I think also to your fan base if you’re Tony or land or whoever is like hey want the there’s these there’s these three Lakers picks and Ru hachimura it’s like that’s what that’s that’s what we’re getting back you you want to maybe get someone who’s a little bit more sexy just to sell it but I understand that’s not maybe that’s you’re very reasonable to point that out as like an offer that’s going to be on the table yeah yeah and I think this kind of speaks to no matter what they do on some level like there’s there’s probably going to be a good amount of push back like like regardless of oh whether they trade try or like there not there’s not a move that is 100% popular exactly oh yeah there there’s I just don’t really see a move out there that’s going to be universally like applauded and you know it any move that involves deante is gonna get compared to the original move from second from from San Antonio like so and and spoil Earth they’re not going to get that they’re not going to get it all back yeah they’re they’re gonna have to essentially take an L on that and they they have to kind of come to that real realization um I don’t remember I was listening to either your podcast or Kevin’s but um I think Glenn Willis brought up a point where it’s where it’s they they have to get beyond the fear of losing a trade like they may lose it in the short run but as long as they have more of a long-term vision for what happens beyond the line like they they may you know hey may they may get some some bad media you know push back against any move they move make whether it involves Trey or deante it’s probably gonna you know Kevin pelton’s going to release his grades it’s probably going to go down as you know not a good grade but if they have a vision that they’re willing to stick for and and go towards like that’s that’s kind of all you can really have please have please have a plan I’ve said that on recent shows with with Glenn with Tyler you just said it without even me asking you to we would all just like to know what the plan is it would be great to know what the plan is wouldn’t it just for analysis purp not even like for fans want to know too but like for people that cover the team it’s like I’d love know they’re try what what they’re even trying to do great right and I think I think they are I mean I get one thing I will point out is they they’ve really they’ve brought some guys on into the front office um within the last 18 months or 24 months or so um essentially since since it’s a Jon trade like they they’ve got a lot of uh they’ve got guys from from other organizations from the Warriors from the Cavs so and and I think you know everything that was mentioned at at Landry’s conference after the the the draft lottery was hey you know this is a collaborative ever we’re we’re going to talk we’re gonna we’re doing our due diligence um you know we saw Landry Kyle and Quinn and France scouting you know Zachary Ras and I I I do think they obviously know the weight of what’s what’s going to happen um and so that that’s kind of why it was why this kind of inflection point is presenting itself like like they they know that they’re gonna have to make some big moves now and they’re they’re they’ve got their own kind of restraints that they’ve imposed upon themselves as we mentioned and um I mean the clock really is like as far as pressure coming from the fans and the players like there’s OB been a lot of disappointment to to not advance past the first round after after 2021 right I think you’re starting to see that kind of resentment growing the fan base and so they they they know where they’re at and then they I think again I think they’ve have a consideration for okay what’s out there in the draft class what’s out there in the free agent Market you know they were pretty much maybe the single most um you know busy busy team towards a trade deadline and in terms of uh rumors flying back and forth so I don’t think I we we’ve kind of um we’ve kind of joked and criticized them for their kind of lack of um lack of ambition lack of moves since that jante trade and really their only move has been what I would call like a react or yeah reactive mood if not a proactive move in terms of the John Collins trade to get nothing back forward and so yeah John John and sadik are their only uh are their only moves of any real I mean of like Star starter level consequence in the last right two years yeah but but like they’re they’re going to have to make obviously either of dejonte or Trey would would would supersede that to a degree so and um yeah so so I do think that’s a consideration I do think Quinn isn’t very heavily involved as you say like we really don’t believe Quinn wants to rebuild so so and he always just for the record he always he always pushes back on the notion that he has front office power he was asked on the record several times I’ve heard that offline too like he doesn’t want anybody think he has office power but he has a voice like he’s not he’s not the GM but I think he has more voice than most coaches do if I had to say so yeah so so so that’ll be big and you know a guy like alexar for example should should they take him one one you know that that’s probably going to fundamentally change how they how they want to line up like defensively and offensively to a degree or really anybody else they they they take with that number one pick I think you know obviously we we’ve discussed this this this draft class um it’s you know obviously low on star power but you can you can get some you know you should be able to get maybe like a future starter at number one overall that’s someone that’s you know a key piece and so so if they’re if they’re really considering just you know maybe building out their defense a littleit more they um there’s there’s you know the consideration that hey you know a Trey young would bring along an alexar a lot in terms of getting him to to be more of a you know modern NBA big man getting him to to rimrun and set screens and that you know do they have the confidence that say dejonte could could Aid in that development for example if they were to trade Trey instead of deante like they may they may say you know that’s that’s not good for the direction we want to go in so um yeah that that’s kind of the tough part um as far as you know your your franchise point guard is it’s not literally a quarterback like in the NFL like it’s not that quite importance but in terms of running your offense and and leading you know they’re they’re generally the the de facto leader if you don’t have you know a better player I suppose at at a different position um so so it really is truly like you know the face of our franchise is you know what comes down to what we do at this at this deadline so it’s been traced since 2018 you know I think he’s I think you and I in agreement that he’s he’s really matured into that role you know y it may have taken a couple years but in terms of the answers he gives that how he deals with the media uh how he responds on on the basketball court and picks up things and learns like he’s he has truly grown to be the face of the franchise so so there’s that consideration beyond the basketball court as well so you know do they want a part he he’s kind of obviously got kind of a special bond with the city and and we mentioned you know it would not go down very well with the fan base for for to trade away a guy like Trey so if you were to ask me which is more likely uh you know I’ve kind of said it all along that I think the most likely path would be seeing what you can get for Deonte maybe you take a loss on trading him away but but re reentering the organization the you know the play around the court around Trey and just staying where you’re at using your pick on um probably Alex SAR um but you know it would be wouldn’t surprise me to see them to pick someone else but um seems like he’s obviously kind of the the the most consensus guy at this point yeah you heard he first West ways in on the draft I’m kidding uh I won’t keep it any longer my friend I appreciate you saying all this lay laying all this out we we did plug it but I’ll say again people should read P hoops.com every day no matter what but also this piece that Wes wrote that inspired this podcast anything else to plug Wes before we get out of here um no that’s about it yeah please read PE hoops.com um you can follow me on Twitter SLX blog Hawk um we’ll be covering the Hawks we’ll be covering the Atlanta Dream as they move into the W WNBA season uh we’ll be covering you know the draft we we have some draft prospect breakdowns come out um definitely all the guys who could go number one we we’ll have a piece on them at some point between now and the draft so yeah please look for that and uh yeah follow me on Twitter I block Hawk check out west content across the board P groups is great I uh used to be there and still read and still interact and slack and support the guys however I possibly can so check them out thanks again for being here Wes I appreciate it man as for everybody else please subscribe to this podcast tell the friend we’re on Apple we’re on Spotify we’re on YouTube ratings and reviews appreciated follow us on Twitter follow us on Twitter and we’ll see you all next time

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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