The Atlanta Hawks have a remarkable opportunity to turn their Trae Young dilemma into a championship. With uncertainty surrounding Young’s fit with the team, ESPN offered a trade proposal that would send him to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In the process, the Hawks would add a superstar of the highest order, move on from Young, and remain one of the most well-rounded teams in the NBA.

Atlanta has built its future around a promising core of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Zaccharie Risacher. That very five-man lineup has produced some of the best basketball the Hawks have played in years.

Unfortunately, in ESPN’s recent trade proposal, the Hawks would be packaging Risacher with Young in order to get the hypothetical Antetokounmpo trade over the finish line.

Despite the undeniable losses the Hawks would be incurring from a personnel perspective, this is a move that would preserve their future while improving their present.

Giannis to Hawks for Trae Young and Zaccharie Risacher in ESPN proposal

With Risacher and Young, the Bucks would gain two productive players it can build with. It’s also possible they’d opt to immediately move Young to a new team as they add more first-round draft picks to a growing list of the them—with four being sent their way by Atlanta.

In either scenario, Risacher would represent the opportunity to build for the future with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and a breakout rising star in Ryan Rollins.

Atlanta’s ability to send four first-rounders to Milwaukee certainly makes it an intriguing option for Antetokounmpo’s incumbent team to consider. It’d have an instant opportunity to improve its future by either utilizing said picks to draft promising talent or package them in meaningful trades.

The question would then become a complex matter of whether or not Young factors into their future plans, but he’d certainly help the Bucks remain competitive in the short term.

Losing Young would sting, but the Hawks are seemingly headed toward that outcome already. It would also be challenging to justify the loss of Risacher, but when it comes to trading for one of the three best players in the world, unfortunate departures are inevitable.

The bottom line for the Hawks is that adding Antetokounmpo would be tantamount to making an immediate leap to championship contention.

Giannis Antetokounmpo would make Hawks instant title contenders

Atlanta has ranked No. 7 in the NBA in defensive rating since Young suffered an injury in the first quarter of an Oct. 29 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Risacher has certainly played a part in that success, but Antetokounmpo isn’t an offensive-minded player who would come in and disrupt the Hawks’ rhythm.

Instead, he’s a former Defensive Player of the Year and one of the most tenacious competitors in the NBA—thus making him a perfect fit for an already elite defense.

With that in mind, the potential learning curve on offense would be something Quin Snyder could take his time with overcoming. That includes figuring out how Antetokounmpo and Johnson could learn to coexist as downhill players who lack ideal outside shots.

Johnson is thriving as a playmaker, however, and Antetokounmpo has averaged at least 30.4 points per game in each of the past three completed seasons—thus suggesting there’s potential to explore.

When all else fails, both are versatile defenders and willing passers who would be surrounded by alluring talent. Compounded by the presence of a 2024-25 Defensive Player of the Year finalist in Daniels, the Hawks would have a legitimate opportunity to boast the best defense in the NBA.

If Snyder can put the pieces together on offense, it’s safe to assume the Hawks would become championship hopefuls and favorites in the Eastern Conference.