There are only three types of people who say the Hawks won the draft day deal that sent Trae Young to Atlanta and brought Luka Doncic to the Dallas Mavericks.
People who work for the Atlanta Hawks. People who are fans of the Atlanta Hawks. And people who are related to Trae Young.
Nothing wrong with a little delusion to get through a day.
During the 2018 NBA Draft, which was three years ago this week, the Hawks used the third overall pick to select Doncic and immediately dealt him to the Mavericks, who took Young with the fifth pick.
Three years later, both players are All-Stars, but Doncic’s Mavs are 0-2 in career playoff series while Young’s Hawks are 2-0, and in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2015 and only the second time since we put a man on the moon.
On Sunday, while Doncic tried to get his Slovenian national team to qualify for the 2021 Summer Olympics, Young led the Hawks deeper into the playoffs than Dominique Wilkins ever did.
The front office of the Hawks have cast real support behind Young and the Hawks, while Doncic’s Mavericks need a GM, a head coach, and a real supporting cast.
And maybe a new owner, too.
If you put your ear to the Internet, or maybe close your eyes and listen to the sounds from the East, you can hear the laughter and taunts from Georgia and The Original Dallas (aka Atlanta), that this all means the Hawks got the better end of the 2018 deal.
Departed Mavs GM Donnie Nelson’s failure was not this trade, but the player moves that followed. The Hawks put better players around Young than the Mavericks put around Doncic.
In case you forgot, when the Mavs sent Young to Atlanta for Doncic it was not man for man. The Mavs also delivered a protected 2019 first-round pick that made the trade possible.
The 2019 selection turned out to be Duke’s Cam Reddish, the 10th pick of his class, who has shown something but also been limited because of injuries.
Doncic is one of the best players in the world. So is Young.
And every GM in basketball would take Doncic over Young.
Young can shoot the ball accurately from places that are not actually on a basketball court. He is actually playing up to his draft day comparisons to Golden State’s Stephen Curry.
Young is only 22, and the Hawks should celebrate that they have him.
But in the end you always, always, always go with height.
Young is 6-foot-1. Luka is 6-foot-7.
Despite the rise and depth of guard play, the NBA is a big man’s world, and Luka is a bigger man with little man skills.
Donnie Nelson inherited his infatuation with all things Eastern European from his dad, and it was justified with the trade to land Doncic.
What did not work out, and it ultimately it cost Donnie his job, were all of these other moves.
Because it’s not as if the Hawks are blessed with a super team roster. Teammates Clint Capela, John Collins and Lou Williams aren’t exactly filling out an All-Star lineup.
They defeated an inferior and flawed New York Knicks team in the first round of the playoffs. In the semifinals, the Hawks beat the 76ers, the East’s top team, because they forget these games are 48 minutes not 40, and Ben Simmons suddenly no longer knows how to play basketball.
The Atlanta Hawks, mostly because of Young, are a good team.
The Dallas Mavericks are an incomplete team, which is why Mark Cuban blasted the leaf blower to the top shelf of his organization.
The problems are still the problems, and Donnie’s trade of shooting guard Seth Curry to the 76ers last summer in exchange for “defensive stopper” Josh Richardson was a bomb.
The ying-yang between Luka and Kristaps Porzingis is not going according to plan.
This may not have a “fix,” but KP’s contract is so big the Mavs have no choice but to try with a new coach.
However you want to examine the Luka-for-Young trade, both teams acquired great players.
The Mavericks got the better player, but they don’t have the better team.