Why Knicks must avoid Trae Young trade at all costs

Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Following a report from The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, it seems as if the Hawks could be willing to move on from All-Star point guard Trae Young this summer. While he may have struggled this season, Young is a player that multiple teams will be foaming at the mouth to acquire.

While the Knicks certainly do have the assets to acquire a player like Young and will likely make some sort of move for a player of his caliber, Leon Rose should do everything in his power to not trade for Young for a couple of reasons.

The Knicks should avoid trading for Trae Young during the offseason

In all honesty, there are so many reasons why the Knicks shouldn’t trade for Young. For starters, it would be a complete disaster on account of his horrendous defense alone. Pairing Young and Jalen Brunson in the backcourt would probably be one of, if not the worst defensive duo in the entire NBA.

Brunson may not be an awful defensive player, but he is far from a good one. Pairing him with Young, who has a case to be the worst defender in the league, would be far from ideal and is something the Knicks should know won’t work.

Alongside this, while you can make the argument that Young’s struggles this season were more on his bad coaching situation and poor fit next to Dejounte Murray, he still had issues at the end of the day. Whether this struggle is sustainable or not, we may not know until next season, however, it is certainly something to consider.

Even if Young figures it out next season and even if the Knicks were to figure out a way to mitigate his horrific defense, why on earth would either side want him to play in New York? The fans dislike Young and we’re sure he feels the same way.

There simply isn’t much of a reason at all for the Knicks to consider this deal, especially during an offseason in which someone like Karl-Anthony Towns could be available. Not only would Towns be a better fit but there is a decent chance that he would cost less to acquire.