Unlocking the Untold Secrets Behind the Story That Everyone’s Talking About

Is it possible that the Atlanta Hawks are actually better off without Trae Young? Since their flashy point guard went down with a knee injury, this revamped squad—bolstered by savvy offseason additions like Nickeil-Alexander Walker and Kristaps Porzingis, along with the breakout of Jalen Johnson—has flipped the script. Defensively impenetrable and offensively slick, they’ve rattled off an impressive 11-7 run, making Eastern Conference foes take notice. Yet, the real question isn’t just how well they’re playing without their star, but whether this surprising surge can last—and more provocatively—if it’s time to pivot away from Young as the franchise’s centerpiece. After all, can a team build sustained success around a player who’s a defensive liability but an offensive maestro? Dive into the analysis of Atlanta’s curious case of playing better while their face of the franchise is sidelined—and what it means for their future. LEARN MORE

The Atlanta Hawks have been playing better while Trae Young is out with an injury. Is their play sustainable enough to move on from the face of the franchise?

Coming into the season, a lot of folks were bullish on the Atlanta Hawks.

After an uninspiring 40-42 campaign, they had one of the busiest offseasons in the league, adding Nickeil-Alexander Walker, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard.

On top of that, they could project internal improvement from promising young players like Jalen Johnson (who missed the last 38 games of the year with injury), Zaccharie Risacher, Onyeka Okongwu, Dyson Daniels and Mouhamed Gueye.

Hope seemed lost when the Hawks started 2-3 and Trae Young sustained a knee injury that would keep him on the sideline for at least a month. However, since then, they have an 11-7 record and are starting to look like a formidable foe in the Eastern Conference.

What’s going on here? Is Young’s return going to make them better or worse? And is it time for Atlanta to trade its four-time All-Star?

Why The Hawks Are Playing So Well

When we took a look at the Phoenix Suns’ hot start to the season, we touched on the idea of lineup balance and how it was better to have a team filled with players who complemented each other well than it was to have one loaded with All-Stars.

In theory, that’s what this team had. Young was the offensive centerpiece (13th in offensive DRIP), and the Hawks have a ton of great defenders and shooters to complement him.

But theory doesn’t always translate to practice, and while the Hawks should have been able to hide Young’s weaknesses, he’s been too poor a defender to scheme around. Young ranks 479th out of 488 players in defensive DRIP, and the Hawks have not had a top-10 defense (or even an average one) since he was drafted in 2019.

With him gone, Walker has stepped into the starting lineup, and with a lineup of Walker/Daniels/Risacher/Johnson/Okongwu (or Porzingis, when he’s healthy), their defense has looked impenetrable. Since Young got hurt (18 games), the Hawks boast the seventh-best defense in the NBA, per NBA.com.

The beauty of having a great defense is that it leads to more stops and forced turnovers, which lead to run outs and shots earlier in the shot clock.

During this stretch, the Hawks have the fourth-highest frequency of shots taken with between 22-to-18 seconds on the shot clock. And thanks to the litany of impressive athletes on this roster, most of those quick looks are transition dunks/layups, which are easier shots than pretty much anything Young could create for them in the halfcourt.

Everyone expected the Hawks to be better on defense without Young, but there was expected to be massive slippage on the offensive end. However, the Hawks are 14th in offensive rating since Young was injured. Even with increased transition opportunities, you can’t be an average offense in 2025 without having some sort of half-court offense.

This is the Johnson of it all. He’s always had the potential of a player who could blossom into a future star thanks to his rare blend of size, vertical prowess and ball skills. Well, the future is now in Atlanta.

Players averaging 20/10/7 on 50% FG this season

Nikola Jokic
Jalen Johnson

End of list pic.twitter.com/5eweFFj36N

— Jake (@SuperiorNBA) December 4, 2025

Johnson has gone from a high-level starter to someone who should earn his first All-Star nod this season. He’s averaging 23.2 points, 10.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game, which are all career highs. His efficiency is also the best it has ever been (63.7% true shooting).

Having the ball in his hands has allowed Johnson to be more aggressive (his number of free throw attempts per 100 possessions is nearly double his previous career high), and given him more opportunities as a primary decision-maker. If he can stay healthy, he’ll be a top-25 player in this league for a long time.

Walker also deserves some flowers. He’s spent the last few seasons being a 3-and-D ace for a successful Minnesota Timberwolves team. But with Young gone, Walker has proven that he can do a little more than just space and defend.

After averaging double-digits just once in his first six seasons, Walker is now at 20.4 points per game with the Hawks. His single-season improvement is demonstrated by him being tied for 13th in the entire league in DELTA (a metric that tracks the change in DRIP from the beginning of the season to the present day).

What Happens When Young Returns?

Right now, the Hawks look a lot like the 2024-25 Houston Rockets, but without the intense pressure they put on the offensive glass. And as last postseason taught us, you can only go so far in the playoffs without a high-level creator.

Maybe Johnson proves to be that guy (offensive DRIP doesn’t love his impact), but he has never proven that in a postseason setting. Young has proven he is that guy. He’s perennially considered one of the league’s best passers, and the Hawks are basically a layup and wide-open 3-point machine whenever he’s on the court.

Plus, thanks to Young’s keen eye for hit-ahead passes, they were still playing very fast when he was on the floor (seventh in frequency of shots with between 22-18 seconds on the shot clock in his five games). It is also worth mentioning that the Hawks have been shooting better on 3s since he went down (37.3% without Young, 34.5% with him), so he was on the wrong side of shooting variance.

In the perfect world, the Hawks are a better offense with Young back in the fold, and their time without him has made them better equipped to withstand his minutes on the bench (which has been a major issue for them in the past). On defense, maybe the coaching staff has come up with a solution for how to better hide Young.

The Verdict: What Should The Hawks Do?

This season could go down as a big one for the future of NBA offenses. The Miami Heat are showing us that you can build a good offense while hardly ever setting ball screens. This trend would diminish Young’s offensive value, since he is such a pick-and-roll-heavy player.

Last year was the first time since 2019-20 that the Hawks didn’t have a top-12 offense, which suggests that the Heat may be on to something.

Couple that with the fact that Young is such an extreme negative on the defensive side of the ball (not just a slight one like Luka Doncic), and it may be in the Hawks’ best interest to trade their franchise star for a good offensive player who won’t kill them on defense.

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The post The Trae Young Question: Are the Atlanta Hawks Better Without Their Star Player? appeared first on Opta Analyst.