Half the Trae Young Trade Has Been a Coach's Decision

Atlanta traded a franchise point guard in January and one of the two players it got back has not been in the rotation.

Not hurt. Not rested. Corey Kispert has played four of Atlanta's eight games, the other four logged did-not-play, coach's decision: the October 21 opener at Orlando, October 24 against Houston, October 28 against Miami, October 29 against Cleveland. He has no row on the league injury board. No reason is on the record anywhere I have looked, and I am not going to invent one.

He is not even Atlanta's most frequent scratch. Dorian Finney-Smith has five. Asa Newell and Zuby Ejiofor tie him at four.

So let's grade it.

Atlanta sent Trae Young to Washington on January 9 and got CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. No picks. No third player. Two in, one out, nothing else.

McCollum has played all eight games: 114 points, 14.25 a game, 214 minutes, 26.75 a night, 16 of 43 from three. Third on this roster in total points, no tie anywhere near him.

Kispert has 30 points: 7.5 a game in the four he played, 3.75 across the eight Atlanta played, on 34 total minutes and eight of 13 from distance in four appearances.

Together: 144 points over Atlanta's eight games, 24 of 56 from three.

Young, in seven games for Washington: 139 points, 19.9 a game, 70 assists for exactly 10 a game, 253 minutes, 13 of 48 from three.

Two players, 144. One player, 139. If that reads like a win for Atlanta, read the minutes column again.

The best night in this ledger is its worst piece of evidence. Kispert went 18 minutes and 14 points on Monday, season highs in both columns. McCollum had 32 minutes, 13 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists, four clear of his next best this season. Hawks 108, Pacers 104.

Atlanta did that without Jalen Johnson and Jock Landale, against an Indiana team missing six players. I called that result small yesterday, and it is still small. The best data point in the trade return arrived in the least representative game of the season.

The comparator next to it: Aaron Wiggins has 110 points in 205 minutes on 21 of 52 from three. McCollum has 114 in 214. Four more points on nine more minutes, and Wiggins did not come back in this trade.

Tilt printed the receipt eighteen days ago. Simone, October 16: McCollum is here, and Kispert is here, because Trae Young is in Washington. On November 1 she put it in writing that she was holding this one back. The week showed up. I am holding the invoice.

Atlanta are 4-4. Washington are 4-3, half a game ahead of them in the Southeast. The clubs play Wednesday in Washington and Friday night in Atlanta, so by Saturday morning there will be two results on the board out of four this season.

Two results. Eight games, four of them without half the trade return on the floor. That is the evidence this city plans to convict somebody with.

If Atlanta take both, the argument goes quiet until the next losing streak. If they split, nothing is established. If Washington take both, half this city will call it a verdict and it still will not be one. The take that Friday settles this is cooked.

My stake. If Kispert plays both games against Washington, I will write the piece that says the ledger moved. If he sits either one, the ledger has not moved. It just had a loud night attached to it.