The Whiteboard: Trae Young or De'Aaron Fox? The Spurs' choice is clear

The San Antonio Spurs are the talk of the town.

With the NBA trade deadline one week away, there is a widespread expectation that San Antonio will trade for Sacramento Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox. Nothing has crossed the finish line yet, but Fox's preferred destination is clear, and the Spurs are equipped with enough assets (and the motivation) to get a deal done.

Fox's desire to join the Spurs is not difficult to understand. There has been some whining from major market fans in Los Angeles, for example, but San Antonio has the gift of a generational talent in Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foot-4 wunderkind is effectively under lock and key in the Spurs organization for the next seven years. Fox can, potentially, hitch his wagon to the greatest talent since LeBron James. It's a no-brainer.

From San Antonio's perspective, however, it's fair to wonder if there are better options on the table. Fox is an excellent on-paper fit with Wemby, but the Spurs shouldn't be afraid to aim higher. Take, for example, Atlanta Hawks All-Star snub Trae Young.

Young was frequently involved in trade rumors before the season, but Atlanta dealt Dejounte Murray instead. Since then, Young has experienced an individual bounce-back, keeping a depleted Hawks roster in the Play-In mix. With Jalen Johnson hurt and Atlanta's season in free fall, however, there may not be a better time for Atlanta to blow it up.

Spurs should engage Hawks on a potential Trae Young trade

The thing about a Hawks rebuild is, they don't own their own first-round picks for the next three drafts. Who does? Well, the Spurs. It's almost fate. The only way Atlanta can earnestly rebuild is to recoup its own draft capital from San Antonio, which was acquired as part of the original, ill-fated Murray trade.

San Antonio won't part with those (very valuable) picks without a fight, but dangling Young should get the Spurs to the negotiating table. Wemby is good enough to spearhead a contender right now. For all his shortcomings, Young is a proven postseason performer who consistently elevates those in his orbit.

The Hawks are 7.0 points better per 100 possessions with Young on the floor this season. The Kings are 1.8 points worse with Fox, per Cleaning the Glass. This feels like a noisy outlier for Fox, who has been a positive-impact player throughout his career, but it's hard to overstate the season Young is having.

Minimal help has muted team success in Atlanta, but Young is a singular offensive ecosystem unto himself. He's averaging 22.5 points and a league-high 11.4 assists, with an assist-to-usage ratio in the NBA's 80th percentile and a usage rate in the 85th percentile.

For all the hand-wringing over Young's questionable efficiency (.400/.340/.854 with 55.6 percent true shooting) and high volume of turnovers, he tends to get the most out of his (many, many) touches. There isn't a more prolific setup man in the NBA right now.

Some will argue that it's all circumstantial — that Young just has a longer leash and more freedom than most — and while there's truth to that, there's a reason the Hawks lean so heavily on Young, whereas other teams might split ball-handling and playmaking duties more evenly. Some of it is roster construction, but Young's usage was even higher last season when he shared the floor with Murray. It's primarily a result of Young's remarkable competence, his boundless creativity and innate talent for putting stress on a defense.

He may not have the best 3-point numbers on the surface, but Young is attempting 8.4 per game. Almost all of them are pull-ups, with Young joining Steph Curry and Damian Lillard on the shortlist of point guards who pose a legitimate threat pretty much anywhere inside halfcourt. Combine Young's shooting gravity, quick-trigger release, and incredible speed as a ball-handler, and it becomes borderline impossible to contain him at the point of attack. He can snake through screens, split defenders, and shake free with jitterbug handles, all while posing a constant threat to stick a jumper, no matter the angle or level of contest.

Young is able to leverage this scoring gravity to open up teammates and set the offense in motion. He can make every pass in the books. Right or left-handed skips, perfectly-threaded bounce passes, a pinpoint lob from three-quarters court — it's all in his repertoire.

Now, just imagine Young probing the defense, stretching and collapsing it as a ball-handler, while Wemby roams the middle. That pick-and-roll partnership would be something else. Wemby has the widest catch radius in the NBA. Young can, perhaps, throw the widest variety of passes in the NBA. He can feed Wemby's unique shot profile while also generating a ton of easy catch-and-finish opportunities that aren't there with old-man Chris Paul or Tre Jones running the show.

The defensive criticisms are valid, but let's not pretend as though Fox is some elite stopper. These past couple seasons have seen Young commit more regularly to providing resistance on-ball. He will never be elite, or even good, but Young will at least fight over screens and do his best to stick to his man. Wemby, meanwhile, is the best backstop in the NBA — a dominant rim deterrent who alters the geometry of the court in ways nobody else can. He can give Young some relief on that end.

As for the long-term projections, Young's shooting and rapid-fire decision-making has me thinking his game will age more gracefully than Fox. The hope would be that Wemby's own gravity and creation skills generate more clean, efficient looks for Young beyond the arc, perhaps allowing him to ease off the gas pedal and occupy a more balanced role as time progresses and his prime wanes.

Both Young and Fox are tremendous talents. Both would elevate San Antonio to the "next level," with flexibility still to add around them and boost the supporting cast. If I'm the Spurs, though, I am betting on the generationally talented playmaker — the high-IQ, floor-bending passer with Dame-esque shooting range.

The Spurs can gift Atlanta a chance to rebuild. Now feels like the right time with Jalen Johnson on the mend and their season slipping away. No other team can present such a compelling offer for Trae Young. Plenty of others can go after De'Aaron Fox.

Ask me, and the Spurs' decision is simple. Atlanta should be equally amenable. So, let's call it in...

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NBA news roundup:

• New Orleans is considering a Jimmy Butler-Brandon Ingram swap, per Marc Stein. The Pelicans have 12 wins right now and Butler is a free agent when the season ends. That seems... not ideal, really for anybody except Ingram. It sure could save the Pels a bit of cash when Butler leaves, though.

• Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry are effectively nixing the Warriors' pursuit of Jimmy Butler over concerns about his personality fit in the locker room, per Yahoo's Kevin O'Connor. Maybe it's time to consider trading Draymond Green if we are worried about culture cancers.

• Quietly, the Philadelphia 76ers have won four straight games with the Denver Nuggets coming to town on Friday. Tyrese Maxey is the NBA's second-leading scorer since Jan. 6, averaging 31.6 points during that span. The kid has figured it out, and Philly is starting to make the most of relatively little with Joel Embiid and Paul George on the mend.

Hawks at a crossroads ...

Atlanta has lost seven in a row, now just two games ahead of the Bulls and 76ers, who are virtually tied in the standings in 10th and 11th place. Jalen Johnson is done for the season. For as important as Trae Young is, Johnson was a critical pillar to Atlanta's success, and his absence leaves a major hole in the Hawks' offense.

The only real way for the Hawks to rebuild is a Trae Young trade with San Antonio, which would recover Atlanta's own first-round picks. That may not be on the table, though. For as much as I'm keen on praising Trae Young and guiding folks to the light, not every pundit or front office member feels the same way. Fox is widely preferred in some circles, including San Antonio, from the looks of it. Young is a polarizing figure.

If the Spurs aren't willing to get bold and engage Atlanta in a Young trade, then the Hawks have no real choice but to stay afloat. One potential avenue? A trade for Brandon Ingram, which Atlanta has considered in recent days, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst. Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks has heard similar buzz.

Ingram's value is in the dumpster for reasons mostly out of his control. The Pelicans clearly don't want to pay him and will probably accept a bargain-bin price as a result. Atlanta would need to contend with Ingram's inevitable contract demands in the offseason, but it's hard to imagine a better running mate for Ingram, at least offensively, than Trae Young. He should be able to find the former No. 2 pick in favorable spots, setting up easy spot-up 3s and simple straight-line drives.

The Hawks are probably buying out of desperation at the trade deadline. If not Ingram, don't be shocked to see Atlanta looking elsewhere. Myles Turner, Nikola Vucevic, hell, Jimmy Butler. Never say never.