Hornets move on from LaMelo for Coby White, Nikola Vucevic, and a conditional 1st I predict being eligible next season or the season after.
Hawks would trade Trae Young in only these scenarios:
Hawks GM/Ownership don't believe Young can lead them to a Finals appearance, or elevate them to a true contender in the East (Boston, Cleveland, New York).
Young personally requests a trade, seeing Atlanta either begin rebuilding their roster in fear of mediocrity, continuing to stagnate like Toronto and Chicago had done seasons prior. Disagreements over front office decisions or state of their 2025-26 season by the deadline (like De'Aaron Fox this season).
Atlanta doesn't believe they can afford extending Trae Young to his full/max contract, that paying Young limits future extension possibilities with Dyson Daniels, Risacher, or their 2025 rookie signings. Also applicable to FA.
Young's potential suitors are relatively few because of his 2026-27 Player Option, which he'll be glad to decline for a bigger payout. Lonzo and LaMelo signed their extensions not too long ago, together equaling out to the cost of Young's present contract with more guaranteed seasons attached.
Bulls could extend Tre Jones and go forward with both Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, but what does that mean for their future playoff chances? Chicago and Charlotte are in very similar positions, becoming much younger teams like Brooklyn and Portland, but lacking a clear direction with their core players (excluding recent top picks like Brandon Miller and Tidjane Salaun for Charlotte, Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey for Chicago).
Ultimately I see all 5 of these players thriving on their new teams, Chicago only needing to improve at Center this offseason before becoming contenders again. Charlotte is much different of course, where I'm anticipating their 2027 offseason being their most productive with all the picks going their way (potentially 3 or 4 1sts in 2027 alone). Atlanta would be a vastly better team with LaMelo and Daniels leading the backcourt, Risacher and Johnson spacing the floor for them and Lonzo, and Okongwu getting more opportunities to start. I still believe Clingan should have gone #1 to Atlanta last season, seeing him as the greatest prospect in the 2024 class and inevitable Capela replacement.
Comment your questions, concerns, or tell me where I'm wrong.