Hawks have finally figured out how to properly build around Trae Young

The past six seasons of Atlanta Hawks basketball have been characterized by one glaring question: How should the front office build around star point guard Trae Young? It’s a puzzle that has proved far trickier than anybody first imagined, and that includes GM Landry Fields.

Roster construction in the NBA is a refined art form that requires a lot more nuance than most realize. You want to build around a star player, but you also need to do this in a way that maximizes their strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. That second part is the most crucial, perhaps even more so when you’re building around a player like Trae Young.

Young is everything you want from your point guard offensively. Outside of Nikola Jokic, there’s no other facilitator in the game currently in his league. Add in his ability to score at an extremely high, albeit inefficient at times, level, and you have an exceptional keystone to run your offense through.

For as good as Young is with the ball in his hands, however, there are several significant weaknesses in his game. For starters, he’s undersized, even for a point guard in today’s game, meaning he’s at a disadvantage in that department. Also, while his defense has been improving, he still leaves much to be desired on that end of the floor.

Lastly, Young is one of the most ball-dominant players in the NBA, meaning his off-ball game is always going to suffer as a result. This means that whoever is on the court with him at any given moment has to excel at moving off the ball to give Young an outlet to pass or score. If Young is on the court, then the offense is going to have to flow through him at all times.

All of this has been apparent since Young stepped into the league, meaning fans and analysts alike have had ample time to figure out what kind of supporting cast Young would need to excel. This includes lengthy wings who excel off the ball and who are at least plus defenders, a backcourt mate who also excels off the ball and is an excellent point-of-attack defender and a five who lives off the pick-and-roll and can finish lobs at a high rate.

Throw in a couple of high-percentage catch-and-shoot specialists, and you have the perfect supporting cast for Young. Finding the right pieces to fit this mold is far easier said than done, however. The Hawks have had to go through several rounds of trial and error in finding the right mix of players, but they appear to have finally gotten it right.

The emergence of Jalen Johnson as a true co-star has played a large role in the success the Hawks are seeing early on, but he’s far from the only piece. The trade that sent Dejounte Murray to New Orleans in exchange for Dyson Daniels is quickly turning into the best move Fields has made. Daniels is the perfect backcourt complement to Young and has blossomed into one of the best defensive players in the NBA.