This trade is heliocentric toward Atlanta and that's because I made it from their pov. However, of course, seeing Jalen Johnson in any trade was a big no-no over there at the A. However, I'm sick of the Hawks FO thinking they can keep going by cheaply, building a mid team and letting go of real assets that could actually help Trae significantly and keeping ok players just to fill out roster space hoping Trae can take them to the promised land. Well he can't, they're trying to merge 2 separate timelines into one and it's wasted 3 years of Trae Young's time in Atlanta. Mediocre rosters constantly filled with 20 years old not yet ready to compete, this would have been fine 3 years ago yet 3 years later they've gotten rid of damn near all those developing 20 year olds and replaced them with new ones who are once again not yet ready to contribute at the moment. I'm just sick of it.

Now Jalen Johnson is the only player that has miraculously been safe from this Hawks' FO's incompetence, so why would they trade him?

I picture 2 timelines for the Hawks going forward, either they start anew with Jalen Johnson at the helm, meaning trading Trae Young, or they finally commit to Trae Young and seriously build a roster for the present, meaning all hands on deck, no one outside of Trae is untouchable, hindsight be damned. Like I always like to say, if you're building something for the present, it's gonna cost you something in your future. Parting ways with Jalen Johnson is gonna be a tough bullet to bite especially because of his all star potential, he undeniably becomes a cornerstone for the Jazz going forward and the Hawks will just have to deal with it. They get back in return Lauri and JC whom Hawks fans have already told me are not on the same level as Jalen going forward, it doesn't matter because for me this is a move for the here and now, you finally accept what you never could and that is you can't have your cake and eat it too, you'll just have to do it in probably the toughest scenario you could have ever learnt it from, but they put themselves in NBA purgatory through their own mistakes, they gotta get to learning from it some way. The Jazz also recieve 3 picks, 2 of which are first rounders that they've already owned in the past so it's a pretty good return package I must imagine.

For the Hawks, this is a lesson in poor management over the years coming back to bite them. I seriously hope this is the offseason where they get aggressive in roster construction, whether it's timeline 1 or 2. If it is 2, I hope they do some proper scouting and talks with NBA executives, like getting Cam Spencer who at 25 is undervalued and could be an easy steal, or even a guy who now has a lot of suitors I assume in Gary Trent Jr. who had a very impressive stint with the Bucks, he's most likely gonna get thrown a few million more than his current 2.6m contract with the Bucks over an extended period, but I don't think it's crazy enough to reach 10m, I feel like the Hawks could use a guy like him off the bench and as a vet. Getting a perfect 6th man in Anfernee Simons after hype around his trade value went down this year, course correcting the DeAndre Hunter trade in a really good way as he can come off the bench and play 30+ minutes a game getting you 18 and 5 a game, that's a really useful piece to have I'd say.

In the end, I just hope this isn't another year stuck in limbo here in the A, I'm so done with this mediocrity.