Spurs passing on Trae Young looks exponentially better after Play-In woes

The San Antonio Spurs were linked to Trae Young for over a year when rumors began to swirl that the Atlanta Hawks wanted to move on from him. The two-point guard system with Dejounte Murray and while they were able to move him, they've been unable to do the same with Young.

The results of that inability have been mixed for ATL as they nearly made the playoffs, but the negative slapped them in the face hard during the Play-In Tournament. He was a liability on defense and inefficient on offense, shooting a combined 17-43 (39%) from the field in the two games, and even got himself ejected from the first one against the Orlando Magic.

Trae Young's struggles were right on time for the Spurs

As the veteran of that ballclub, you expect more from Young, who has experience making big plays in big moments, but instead, the worst part of his game showed up at the worst time. That's great news for the Spurs, though. It confirms that they made the right decision in selecting De'Aaron Fox over Ice Trae, and the loss helped the Silver and Black obtain a second lottery pick.

The Hawks are in a precarious situation. His play in these last two games won't encourage other teams to trade for him now, after already not wanting him before this season or at the trade deadline. He still has two years left on his contract, one being with a player option, at over $40 million a year.

The 6'0" guard compromises your defense because of his small stature, and he's inconsistent. Case in point was the big shot he hit to force overtime, but then he had no assists to his two turnovers in OT.

To his credit, he went 2/2 during the extra period, but the turnovers were catastrophic considering they already couldn't stop Miami. The Heat were 6/9 (66.7%) in overtime last night and held the Hawks to 3/7 (42.9%).

Not everything fell San Antonio's way on Friday night. The other piece of the puzzle that fans were rooting for was a Memphis Grizzlies loss. Ja Morant was listed as questionable heading into that game, and all reports indicated his ankle was so bad that he needed injections to get on the floor, which he did, and the Mavericks couldn't handle it.

Morant made big plays despite playing on an injured ankle and put up 22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. He shot poorly overall (7/24), but fighting to get on the court showed great leadership, and the entire team played inspired basketball. Anthony Davis got hurt in the fourth quarter, and the Grizzlies beat the Mavs 120-106.

The Spurs are impacted because Dallas is in the lottery now, and since they have a worse record than Atlanta, they rise higher than the Hawks in the draft lottery. Instead of possibly landing at 12 or 13, depending on a coin flip with the Sacramento Kings (who actually owe that pick to Atlanta if it lands outside of the top 12), it will be between 13 and 14. That slightly decreases SA's odds of getting into the top four.

But all in all, there's no bad way to spin getting an additional lottery selection—especially in a draft this talented. So, San Antonio thanks the Hawks and Trae Young for their service.