Ranking the 5 NBA stars most likely to be traded after James Harden

5. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks are another team that's really just stuck in the middle. They're not good enough to knock off a team like the Celtics and Bucks but aren't bad enough to be in the front of the lottery. The Hawks once again look like a team that will finish with a low seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and lose in the first round.

Not only are these Hawks not good enough to win anything anytime soon, but they're also stuck with the core that they've got. Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Onyeka Okongwu are all locked in through the 2025-2026 season, and they don't really have assets or cap space to get much better than they already are.

Parting with Trae Young would give Atlanta the opportunity to kickstart a rebuild where they'd look for a player a bit better suited to be the top option on a championship contender. Young is an awesome player, but his defensive deficiencies and struggles from the field in big games really stick out. Young has shot 40.2% from the field in his postseason career, which is hard to overcome from a guy shooting over 20 times per game.

The Hawks parting with one of the best point guards in the game who is just 25 years old and locked in for a while is unlikely barring a request from Young. It's hard to move on from a franchise player even if it might be the right thing to do.