Goodbye Trae Young! 43 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists! The Hawks have crowned a new king.

After over a month away, Trae Young made his comeback from a right knee MCL injury, playing roughly 20 minutes in his first game back, scoring 8 points on 3 of 8 shooting and handing out 10 assists, nearly a double-double, but the Hawks fell 126-133 to the Hornets.

Following this match,media statistics show that this season the Hawks win 60% of their games without Trae Young, whereas with him playing, the win rate is only 33%....the embarrassment is something you can feel even through the screen.

Notably, in this game the “new Hawk king,” Jalen Johnson, exploded with an incredible stat line of 43 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists, just shy of a triple-double. This guy is averaging 23.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game this season, shooting 52.1%, 39.6%, and 82.7% in the three categories. At only 24 years old, his future is extremely bright and he is absolutely untouchable for the team.

Indeed, Johnson has become the Hawks’ new franchise star. While Trae Young was recovering, the team’s leadership shifted. Now, he must either accept a secondary role or leave; there is simply no third option.

During this summer’s offseason, Trae Young qualified for a maximum four-year, $229 million supermax extension, but the Hawks have not yet offered him this contract, which has left him frustrated. Since then, rumors of a split between the two sides have been nonstop.

It is especially important to note,that although Trae Young’s current contract runs through the summer of 2027, he has a player option next summer allowing him to decline and become a free agent early.If the Hawks fail to extend or trade him during this season, they risk losing him for nothing.

The NBA trade deadline is February 5th next year; before then, we might see Trae Young change teams, which could also impact the championship race to some extent.

At 27 years old, Trae Young averaged 29.6 points and 9.3 assists in his second year, led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in his third year, recorded back-to-back seasons with a double-double average from 2022 to 2025, and last season was named the league’s assist leader with 11.6 assists per game. He remains a highly skilled ball-dominant star, and some teams would be willing to offer him a max contract.

By the way, there have also been many trade rumors linking Trae Young with the Rockets, who are in urgent need of a point guard.