Is Trae Young’s era in Atlanta over, or can he still lead the Hawks to glory?

Trae Young losing his touch has come to be a popular subject. Monday’s loss to the Boston Celtics saw the Atlanta Hawks star join the injury list with a sprained right rib. He recorded a career-low 2 points, exiting with 3:07 to play in the third quarter, and while he’s the latest to join a scarily long list of Hawks out of commission, one former Atlanta player believes Young’s time with the team is done. Instead, Cooper Flagg should come to Atlanta.

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On the Club 520 podcast, Jeff Teague suggested trading Trae Young, citing the Hawks’ recent struggles.“I’m starting to hear now. It’s time to trade Trae Young,” says the retired pro. “I’m not saying I don’t like him. But obviously, it ain’t that. We suck. We need to trade him to San Antonio.”

Instead, bringing in some new blood might be the solution, says Teague. “We need to get – what’s that young boy’s name? Stephon Castle. A couple other young pieces, some first-rounders. Go ahead and let Trey go out and be there with Wendy and stop wasting everybody’s time because we’re done.”

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Teague has previously mentioned potential young replacements, including Duke freshman Cooper Flagg.On the podcast, he reiterated, “I thought about it, we gotta get Cooper. Cooper or Ace Bailey or whatever, so let’s get rid of Trae Young and get these first-round picks. Or even Dylan Harper. We could get him. Let’s just move on from Trae, get Trae out to San Antonio.” Trae Young out, Cooper Flagg in?

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The reigning National Gatorade Player of the Year made his highly-anticipated debut with the Blue Devils as he scored 18 points, making 6 of 15 shots and adding seven rebounds and five assists. Although he exited the game in the latter stage due to cramping, it was as impressive a debut as expected. He’s not a scorer – that’s more for Kon Knueppel – but Flagg lived up to the hype.

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Now the expected No. 1 pick in the 2025 Draft has not stated any intentions to go pro next year. But should that happen, Jeff Teague wants him in red, gray, and green. While now he’s hoping that Trae Young moves on from the Hawks, there was a time when he was adamantly against trading him.

Jeff Teague couldn’t imagine trading Trae Young… unless it was for the No.1 pick

The Atlanta Hawks missing the playoffs last season after four years was not on anyone’s bingo card. The lack of achievement prompted the team to Dejounte Murray, but when it came to Trae Young, Jeff Teague thought it would be a bad move on his former team’s part.

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“Nah, bro. You can’t trade Trae Young,” Teague said in an August 22 appearance on Club 520. “You got to still put butts in the seat, bro. He must-see TV when he hoop. He put on shows, he get 40, 28 [points]. Atlanta love him. The fans like him. So it’s like, [you] can’t do that. Not right now. Unless you about to get, sh–, the No. 1 pick.”

Cooper Flagg’s chances of joining the NBA next year are slim. So while Teague has put in a good option for the future, the current Hawks need to figure out how to build a championship roster again. Especially with at least four of their top nine rotational players missing the last seven games.