Underscoring this question is the fact that Young isn’t for everyone; teams that already have ball-dominant guards won’t be pursuing him, while some contenders may see him as too vulnerable on defense to justify an all-in plunge for his offensive superpowers.
Ironically, the window of opportunity that appears to be opening is one with the team the Hawks almost sent Murray to: the Lakers. We already have a pretty good idea of what the contours of a Murray trade might look like, but this summer would also lend a perfect storm of opportunity for a Hawks-Lakers accord on Young.
Obviously, the biggest issue is the basketball fit in Los Angeles. The Lakers are desperate for shooting (28th in 3-point frequency), and one area Young has shown real progress this year is taking catch-and-shoot 3s rather than needing to dribble into them; he’s taking 2.1 catch-and-shoot 3s per game, basically doubling his rate of the previous two seasons.
The Lakers also need another perimeter creator to take some of the strain off 39-year-old LeBron James, especially during the regular season. James, for his part, has shown he’s more than willing to share the load with the likes of D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves; surely he’d be happy to let Trae cook for 37 minutes on a January back-to-back in Portland.
Defensively, meanwhile, Young’s greatest weakness is offset by the elite rim protection of Anthony Davis; as much as Capela had Young’s back during the Hawks’ best moments, Davis is at another level entirely. It goes without saying that Davis also would be an elite rim runner and alley-oop threat in the pick-and-roll with Young.
Additionally, the timing lines up on draft capital. After the season, the Lakers would have three first-round picks available to send to Atlanta in a deal, including unprotected firsts in 2029 and 2031 (the other pick would likely be at this year’s draft, assuming New Orleans defers its right to an unprotected Lakers pick to 2025). That would make it possible for the Hawks to offset the picks lost in the Murray trade.
Matching salary combinations also work; they likely involve the Hawks taking back some unwelcome dollars and a repeat of the “Reaves-or-Russell” haggling that torpedoed the Murray talks in February, but it’s not an intractable problem. Rui Hachimura, Reaves and Gabe Vincent gets this to the red zone on salary match; all that’s left is negotiating on adding small contracts as each team fights to stay below the tax apron.
Normally taking on money with years left would be unpalatable in a swap like this, but remember that the Hawks wouldn’t be trading to tank; they owe unprotected firsts to the Spurs in 2025 and 2027 and a swap in 2026. (Seriously, great trade, guys.) Atlanta would get back another legit player in Reaves, a big wing in Hachimura to replace the disappointing Bey and still likely land just below the tax line. If they execute the trade just after the first round of the draft ends on the night of June 26, the Hawks could also recycle the $23 million Collins exception into a slightly bigger one for Young (Reaves would also have to accept a haircut on his trade kicker to fit this).
Finally, there’s the Klutch factor. Young is signed with the agency helmed by James’ longtime pal Rich Paul, and the Klutch-to-Lakers pipeline has been a notable feature of the Laker landscape since James signed there in 2018. (Murray, I should note, also is a Klutch client.)
Of course, I need to emphasize that I’m getting waaaaay ahead of myself. The Hawks have a third of a season left to play, and that likely will show some cards regarding how competitive the team could realistically be in any post-Young future. (One helpful side effect: Actual minutes for rookie first-rounder Bufkin.)
Atlanta could very well decide to move Murray this summer and keep rolling with Young, or continue indefinitely along its current path of inaction. But in the franchise-level big picture, Young’s injury is by far the most interesting thing to happen in a mostly forgettable season. How the Hawks fare without him over the next month or so seems likely to have major implications for what could be a very eventful summer in Atlanta … or not.
As opposed to an opportunity to draft a fake Mexican (no Miklo Velka). 
