When the Atlanta Hawks traded for former Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, there was hope within the organization that KP could be the missing piece for their Trae Young-led core.
It made sense. Young historically is an offensively gifted guard, who has serious shortcomings on defense due to his lack of size and strength. Putting one of the league’s best shot-blockers behind him on defense was a great way to back him up when he’s beaten.
Less than three months into the experiment, the Hawks decided to pull the plug. Of course, Young’s trade to the Washington Wizards dominated the headlines on Wednesday night, after rumblings of the potential move built over the previous few days.
Ironically, sadly, whatever adverb you’d use, Porzingis and Young only played three total games as teammates this season. They won just once together. Porzingis’ lingering case of POTS, combined with Young’s lengthy absence due to his MCL sprain, kept the two from seeing much time as teammates.
"Obviously, he's one of the best passers that I have played with. I think everybody was benefiting from playing with him," Porzingis praised via Kevin Chouinard. "Offensively, he's a Wizard. He's an amazing, amazing player, and I am sad I didn't get more time with him."
The Hawks have clearly been better without Trae Young
The Celtics champion gave the politically correct answer here. In his defense, he played very few minutes with the ball-dominant guard. But to say that everyone was benefiting from playing alongside Young feels like a bit of a stretch.
There is undeniable evidence that the Hawks were, in fact, significantly worse with Young in the lineup this season. The 27-year-old guard made 10 appearances for Atlanta in his final campaign as a Hawk. They won just two of those games, including his final six, after returning from the MCL sprain.
Young’s numbers were the least efficient since his rookie season, too. He averaged 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, and just 1.5 rebounds per game while shooting career lows from the field (41.5%) and from three (30.5%).
Which is why the return for the four-time All-Star wasn’t exactly what you’d expect for someone with his resume.
CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. That’s it. No picks. No swaps. Just an aging star and a sharpshooting wing.
Don’t get it twisted, both players can still help Atlanta win games in the present. Their season isn’t over by any means, and they’ve had impressive stretches of basketball thus far. Jalen Johnson has proven he can lead a team through the regular season, so fans in Atlanta have that to look forward to at least.
As for Young and the Wizards. Washington can’t really get worse, right?