Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor and NBA contributor Tom Haberstoh react to the guard’s move from Atlanta to Washington and what the deal means for both teams. Check out the full conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
This is such an impossibly, unbelievably boring trade.
Kevin.
Unbelievable.
I tried to come up with a take, like a strong take about the Hawks and the Wizards.
And I was like, “This is so boring,” that we had a Trae Young, Three out of the last four years he was an All-Star, and he was coming off a season which He’s averaging, what, 25 and 10, leading the league in assists.
Like, three out of the last four years, he’s been averaging 25 and 10.
And this is what they got for him?
Two solid bench guys.
Two solid bench guys in CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.
For Hawks fans, he was the face of the franchise, right?
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And I think from an emotional standpoint, I understand being extremely, Extremely disappointed by this return.
But Tom, You have to think logically about this too, and I think for Atlanta, They get trade flexibility with CJ McCollum, and I like the Corey Kispert fit in a Quin Snyder’s offense.
He’s not just a 40% catch-and-shoot 3-point guy.
He is somebody who shoots 57% on drives when Attacking off of a closeout, he’s very good at pump faking.
Getting into the defense, finishing with either hand.
I think Kispert is going to impress Hawks fans, especially in this Snyder offense.
And then I can also see a scenario, Tom, where CJ McCollum ends up being a guy they try to Flip right away.
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CJ: Of course.
They could trade his $30.7 million salary for up to roughly $38.6 million.
Million in salary.
This deal gives them more financial flexibility, And that’s where, like, I feel like I have almost two contrasting views.
I think the Hawks got piss-poor, horrible value for Trae Young with what he can Yep.
… Be as a player.
I think they should have traded him two or three years ago.
And that past front office regime missed that opportunity.
But I also think the new front office led by Anis Saleh did a solid job giving the team Some type of flexibility, and it’s about building around the best team that you have.
Today, Trae Young’s value is incredibly low.
And so, I think they have flexibility with CJ, a solid rotation guy in Corey Kispert, And now the big question is, what do you do with all of it?