The Atlanta Hawks pulled a off a first round blockbuster trade early in the night sending their third pick Luka Doncic to the Mavericks in exchange for Dallas’ 2019 first round pick and Trae Young who they selected with the fifth overall pick.

You can make the case that this trade is a win-win for both teams, but in my opinion the Mavericks won this trade. Ultimately, this trade will be judged based on the careers of the two players that were swapped tonight, Doncic and Young.

The Hawks picked up a first rounder next year from Dallas so they can add another solid piece in a year, but the pick is lottery protected, so unless they can get some Donovan Mitchell-type magic, there’s a ceiling to the potential of that pick.

Unless Trae Young is going to become Steph Curry 2.0, which is doubtful, I think in a few years we’re going to be talking about how the Mavericks fleeced Atlanta. Luka Doncic can do so much more than Trae Young, and has the advantage of being the prototypical NBA size and build. You can count on one hand the amount of players Trae Young’s size that have had all-star type success in the league.

I’m rooting for Trae Young to do great things in the NBA, but I just don’t see him being nearly the player that I see Luka Doncic being. Doncic has the potential to be one of the greatest European players to ever make the trip over the pond to play in the NBA. The 18-year-old Slovenian is the equivalent of a five-tool baseball player, he can do everything. He can score inside and out, put the ball on the floor, pass, rebound, and play defense.

Something that always gets overlooked with players like Trae Young, Isaiah Thomas, Allen Iverson, and others in that size range, is the fact that they are almost always a defensive liability. If Young goes for 22 and 8, how much is he really helping when John Wall, Steph Curry, Damian Lillard etc. are scoring 37 points on him? If he’s going to have a chance at stardom, were going to need the Trae Young we saw in the first half of his freshman season last year.

With that being said, if Young can fulfill his potential and Atlanta can make good use of their 2019 first rounder, this could be a more even trade than I made it out to be. I just don’t see it happening though and think the Mavericks got a future all-star for essentially a mid-first-round pick.

Photo credits:

http://www.nypost.com

http://www.sportingnews.com

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