Coming into last season, everyone in the NBA community knew that Trae Young's tenure with the Hawks was numbered. Young addressed this recently, and we will dive into how changes in management had the writing on the wall for his next chapter.

For now, we will dive into some of the more interesting comments that Young had to say about his time with the Hawks that have Atlanta fans buzzing.

In a recent podcast appearance with Brooklyn Nets star Michael Porter Jr., Young was very vocal about the new-look Washington Wizards, but also about his time in Atlanta. He also gave Hawks fans a glimmer of hope about a potential reunion, but then he stated the following about why things didn't work in Atlanta, and the tweet below sent fans into a frenzy.

Now, how much truth is there to this statement? Let's take a trip down memory lane to actually see if Young has a point or if this is an excuse for the lack of execution on his behalf.

Did the Hawks actually get Young the star help he needed?

During Young's time in Atlanta, there was a point where it felt like he wasn't getting the help needed in order for the team to take that next step. Now, I know everyone will point to the times when they made the Eastern Conference Finals and when Dejounte Murray joined the team, but there must clearly be context given.

When Atlanta went on the Cinderella playoff run in 2021, there were a lot of things that needed to go their way for it to happen. In the first round, they matched up with a not-so-skilled New York Knicks team that was essentially just scrappy; then, in the next round, they upset a heavily favored Philadelphia 76ers team that basically played handicapped due to Ben Simmons, and then lost to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks.

The controversy surrounding the Eastern Conference Finals series was that we never got to see how things would truly play out due to injuries to both Young and Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, the next season really exposed the truth, which led to Murray's arrival in Atlanta. Young would quite literally have his best-performing season ever, as he averaged career highs in nearly every category and made All-NBA, before falling to the Miami Heat in the first round.

The reasoning behind the Hawks losing to Miami was that there was no other true scorer and ball-handler. This allowed the Heat to take away Young from Atlanta's offense, leading to a trade for Murray.

The addition of Murray did not go well, as both players needed the ball in their hands. But to Young's point, was Murray ever really the answer? After all, that answer is no, but the reasoning behind why, and how Young's point is right, is really what's missing.

In their tenure as a backcourt, the pair of Young and Murray went a measly 55-62 despite both being All-Stars. I understand that many fans will think to themselves that Murray was an All-Star before he got to Atlanta, so that calls as a fair comparison, but it doesn't, as he made the All-Star Game during an injury-plagued NBA season in 2022 and hasn't been back since.

When Murray was at his peak, he was never double-teamed or looked at as a true scoring threat, which made it harder to create proper spacing for Young to score. As seen in their offensive rating plummeting to a negative net rating when the two shared the court and dropping significantly when it was just Murray, compared to when it was just Young.

So, in the end, Young was factually correct about never having a teammate who would be considered a top 10 offensive player in the NBA who could command as much attention as him. To be fair, think about if he had the luxury of having a teammate such as Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, or Devin Booker in those years, who could command double teams and play without the ball in their hands.

Before we end things off, we must dive into some interesting things Young said about the front office in Atlanta.

Could Young potentially return to his original home in Atlanta?

During this podcast, Young alluded to the fact that he felt the front office in Atlanta had made him a bit uncomfortable due to the constant change. Young had the following to say about his time with the front office.

"You never know how the NBA works. So, you never know if, I mean, a rekindle is in the future for me down there. I love the owner, Tony Ressler, and all the ownership group and everybody down there. So I have much love to a lot of people down there in Atlanta, so I never wanted to leave in a bad way. But once we got on that third GM, and we brought in Onsi, it’s like you don’t necessarily feel as comfortable as you did when you got there."

"There are so many things I won’t say until later on, but sometimes it’s just better just to let things go.”

“I’ve never worked in another job, but I’m sure it’s like this in other jobs where if a new boss is hired, if the new CEO comes in, if a new GM comes in, he’s gonna want to bring in his people,” said Young. “He may make some cuts. He may move some people here and there. He’s gonna figure out who he likes. So, obviously, this was my third GM. You know what I’m saying? Like, it’s different."

“And so when we brought our third one, we all knew around me that it’s either we’re going to be around here for the long haul and we win, or it may be time for everybody to just part their ways.”

While things are looking bright for both sides' future, I don't believe that a potential rekindling is out of the ordinary. It will likely take a lot for that to happen on both ends, but I do believe that it is doable if the situation is right. We will have to wait and see what the future holds, as I would love to see it happen.