Our word “purgatory” comes from the Latin pūrgāre, meaning to purge, to clean. The asymmetry between origin and evolution probably tells us something — how did a word once linked with purification come to mean a place people are trapped in some afterdeath liminal limbo? What does it mean? To understand, consider the case of Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks, the NBA’s purgatory.
Nobody does purgatory like the Hawks. Literally. 15 times the past four seasons, an NBA team won 40-43 games. Atlanta did so three times. None of the other 12 did more than once. For most teams, mediocrity is a rung on a ladder going up or down. For the Hawks, it’s home sweet home. But when nobody’s happy in a relationship, how do you know to keep fighting and how do you know when enough is enough? What’s the difference between being too loyal to quit and too deeply unhappy to leave?
Young and the Hawks looked the happy couple in 2021, when they barnstormed their way within two wins of what would have been the franchise's first Finals since 60 years ago in St. Louis. But after their big splash the club never made the next right move, the one that’d get them over the top, or at least cement them as an Eastern power for some years.
John Collins is far from a perfect player, but 6-foot-10 dudes who jump outta the gym while putting up 20 and 10 most nights and above-average 3-point shooting most years had to be worth more than Rudy Gay and a second-round pick, with Gay traded a few days later for Patty Mills, himself released after only 19 games. They were getting a career year from De’Andre Hunter -- 24 points per 36 on a personal-best 40% 3-point shooting and plus-level perimeter defense. They sent him to the team with the best record in the league, one with a seemingly open runway of 50- and 60-win seasons to come, for some second-round picks and swaps. These are not serious people.
The Hawks had lottery picks the two drafts after acquiring Young in what turned out to be only the second-worst Luka Dončić trade ever. They selected Cam Reddish over Tyler Herro, Cam Johnson, P.J. Washington and Ty Jerome; a year later, it was Onyeka Okongwu rather than Deni Avdija, Devin Vassell or Desmond Bane. Reddish was gone by his second season; Okongwu is still a Hawk five years later, despite failing to win the starting center spot from Clint Capela in all that time. Pivoting from the failed Dejounte Murray deal to Dyson Daniels was a graceful pirouette from whiff to wow, but it also cost Young his age-24 and -25 seasons. It may have cost the Hawks more.
The longer they remain a metronome of meh, the lower Young’s trade value sinks, especially since absent some unforeseen cataclysm he’s likely to decline a $49 million player option in favor of unrestricted free agency next summer. Should the two stay together? Should they break up? If they did, where might Young find greener pastures?
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Reasons the Hawks and Trae Young should stay together
In light of Atlanta now making Landry Fields their former general manager, it’s fair to wonder if Young even wants to endure another new approach. If he does, it probably boils down to two words: Jalen Johnson. The talented big forward doesn’t turn 24 until next season and offers skills as a scorer and playmaker Young has never paired with. The Hawks gave Johnson a five-year, $150 million extension, a level of commitment they were never comfortable giving Collins.
Then there's Daniels, a frontrunner for both Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) and Most Improved Player (MIP). How exceptional was his lockdown work? Not only did he lead the league in steals, the gap between him and second-place Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was so large it would have ranked top-20 in steals by itself.
Last year’s first overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher, more than held his own making the leap from JL Bourg in France’s top division to 25 minutes a night over 75 games for the Hawks. Progress isn’t always as obvious as Risascher made it look. The blue bars are his month by month field-goal percentages; the red bars are his 3-point shooting.
Three jumbo wings with two-way talent seem like the perfect cornerstone for building around Young, still only 26, and coming off his third straight season of 24+ points and 10+ assists, including this season’s league-leading 11.6. Despite all his alleged warts, Young was one of only eight players to make at least 150 3-pointers and 350 free throws, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, James Harden, Devin Booker and Damian Lillard.
A few more years in Atlanta and it’d be hard to deny him a spot on the franchise’s all-time starting five. We’ve seen teams resist the urge to give up on a star or stars and see that patience rewarded, whether Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston or Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland in Cleveland.
The Hawks aren’t a free-agent destination. They know better than anyone how rare it is for a talent like Young to cross a franchise’s orbit. The whole point of pursuing one (pay attention, Dallas) is to build around them, create years of memories for the fans and community, and hope for some good breaks that result in a title. The Hawks have a star worth building around. So build.
Why the Hawks need a trade
Two words: Jalen Johnson. Let me explain.
This season, players guarded by Young made 59 percent of their 2-point shots. That’s what Victor Wembanyama shot inside the arc, good for 25th in the entire Association. Young giveth much to his teammates on offense, but on defensive he giveth up a lot, too: get him within 10 feet of the hoop and that opponent field goal percentage shoots up to 63 percent. Young can’t help that he’s 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds in a league whose average player is a half-foot taller and 55 pounds heavier.
But his steal and block percentages are both down (slightly) from 2024, which coupled with the fact that he played more minutes this year than ever while drawing fewer offensive fouls than ever suggests Young’s done nothing to suggest there’s some defensive renaissance around the corner. A team with three jumbo wings who can all defend kinda shoots itself in the foot if it gives opponents the escape option of attacking someone the same size as John Mulaney. Maybe the Hawks, knowing that, decide there's more potential -- and ease -- building around the bigger, younger, cheaper, more versatile Johnson than the smaller, older, costlier, one-way Trae.
Young might ask why he should saddle his wagon to Atlanta’s star when they’re literally costing him more than $100 million. Young is eligible to sign a four-year, $229 million deal with anybody next summer, but if he qualifies for the supermax extension — one only the Hawks are allowed to offer — that’d be five years and $345 million (this is an underdiscussed juicy little morsel of madness from the Mavs’ Luka fiasco: if they’d waited till the summer, they could have done a sign-and-trade with the Lakers that’d leave L.A. on the hook for the most money possible through 2031. If nothing else, you’d think Dallas, given the choice, would rather their conference rival pay as much as possible for the privilege of poaching him. Nope!).
The likeliest way Young would qualify would be being named to an All-NBA team. He received that honor once, back in 2021-22, when the Hawks slip into mid-conference mediocrity seemed a blip. Since their purgatory became permanent, Young’s production hasn’t plateaued any, but his prestige has. This is the golden age of point guards; even with the greater positional fluidity available to voters, a perennial play-in bridesmaid isn’t catching any bouquets.
Where could Trae Young grow old?
The NBA’s new CBA restrictions and aprons are complex enough to vex Solomon, so for the following ideas to work there might have to be additional moves made. There are at least three teams that could be basketball and financial fits for Young, should he set his sights elsewhere.
Atlanta’s most recent play-in better seems somewhere Young would fit a Young-shaped need. Orlando finished second in defensive rating this season, 27th in offensive rating. Last season they were second and 22nd. Call their backcourt the Union Local 4, because they are a collective of bricklayers. Every night Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner fight the Battle of the Bastards. There’s no space. Barely room to breathe. The Knicks souped-up their Jalen Brunson-led offense by adding the spacing and shooting of Karl-Anthony Towns. Imagine what the Magic’s forwards could advance with this guard their offense’s rearguard.
The L.A. Clippers just moved into their own arena, a first for a franchise so often seen as second-rate. As Hollywood a comeback as Kawhi Leonard is having, this isn’t a blockbuster likely to spawn many sequels. Leonard is under contract through 2027, but assuming Harden picks up his $36 million player option for next season – likely, given the lack of any interested or interesting teams in free agency – the Clippers will have nearly $70 million coming off their books next summer, most of that Harden and Norman Powell.
They’ll still have Ivica Zubac, a DPOY and MIP candidate. They’ll still have Steve Ballmer cycloning cash around, whenever and wherever he can. What they won’t have is a feature attraction. A playmaker like Young in a market like L.A. would make the Clippers the kind of free agent destination they’ve never really been.
Last and probably least likely, but not outlandish: five minutes into the Grizzlies’ series-opener in Oklahoma City, a Zach Edey dunk put them up 9-8 Over 91 minutes since, they haven't had the lead. They lost that game by 51 and trailed wire-to-wire losing Game 2, falling behind as many as 23.
Here are numbers. Memphis owes Bane $163 million through 2029. Jaren Jackson Jr. is up for a new deal next summer; if he wins DPOY this year or next, he's eligible for the supermax (again, only from the Grizzlies). The past four seasons, Ja Morant’s missed 25, 21, 72 and 32 games. After all the gun troubles, he celebrates a good play by air grenading.
In seven seasons, Young’s missed fewer than 10 games six times. The most controversial he’s ever been was as the target of 20,000 Knicks fans, who decided to curse him out on national television for the crime of being his team’s best player. Is it crazy to think Memphis might see what Atlanta takes for granted and swoon a little?
Trae Young and the Hawks have stuck it out for nearly a decade, a lifetime in NBA years. For one shining moment, they were as big a story as there was in the game. Nothing’s worked since. Is next year when they finally purge themselves of this long-running basketball banality? Or do both cut their losses and start a new chapter? Either path would mean change. In that sense, it’s win-win for both no matter what happens next — just so long as something does.