Hawks finally granted longtime Christmas wish after solving historic problem

Trae Young looks up during a match against the Houston Rockets | Tim Warner/GettyImagesAfter seven years of suboptimal guard rotations, the Atlanta Hawks finally have a young core that complements Trae Young perfectly.

It was not smooth sailing to this point. The Hawks have long dreamed of a theoretical player as the ideal backcourt partner to Young: a lengthy two-way combo guard who can handle point responsibilities for ten minutes a night. Unfortunately, these players don’t grow on trees – in fact, this is the one guard archetype every team is looking for.

Atlanta’s failure in this regard certainly wasn’t due to a lack of trying. The Hawks traded for Dejounte Murray and drafted Kobe Bufkin…