The Atlanta Hawks Trading Luka Doncic Away On Draft Night Looks Terrible After He Drops 73 In Their Own Building

Getty Image / Todd Kirkland

There’s no doubt that Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young is a very good NBA player. But, the sixth-year man out of Oklahoma will always be compared to Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić, whom the Hawks traded on draft night to acquire Young.

That trade has looked bad for the Hawks for quite a while, but it’s never looked worse than it does right now, after Doncic dropped an astounding 73 points on the Hawks home court on Friday night.

Yes, 73 points, tied for the fourth-highest scoring game in the history of the NBA with David Thompson. It was truly remarkable.

Obviously, that’s a career game for Luka Dončić. But, even taking away that monster performance, the Slovenian is considered by basically everyone to be the vastly superior player to Trae Young.

Young’s counting stats are good, but he’s an incredibly inefficient scorer and player compared to Luka, and that shows when it comes to All-NBA accolades.

Trae Young has made just one All-NBA team, a third-team selection in 2022. Meanwhile, Luka Dončić is one of just a handful of players to make four straight All-NBA first-teams, and he’s done it in just his second through fifth year.

Hawks fans have to be hating the trade and their circumstances right now. After the team advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, they went all-in the last few seasons to try to make a run. But, the team has not been close to one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference since. They’re now out of assets with a middling roster and an unhappy star in Dejounte Murray. It’s probably time to blow it up, but that means a long road ahead.

Meanwhile, Luka has a chance to be one of the greatest NBA players ever. He’s about to turn 25, and is the best guard in the NBA, and could be for the next ten years.