Luka Dončić era ends for Mavs. Trae Young era should continue for Hawks.

The Mavericks got the better player in the 2018 draft-night trade with the Hawks. Then, they built a better team around Luka Dončić than the Hawks could manage with Trae Young. Now the Mavs have traded Dončić to the Lakers less than a year after he finished third in league MVP voting and led Dallas back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011.

It was a shocking decision. Players like Dončić just don’t get traded. He’s not yet 26 years old and already has five first-team All-NBA selections. There was no way for the Mavs to get equal value for Dončić. Over the weekend, they settled for a haul that includes All-NBA big man Anthony Davis, who is six years older than Dončić, and a first-round draft pick in 2029.

Players like Young do get traded. Young, 26, is a three-time All-Star with one third-team All-NBA selection. The Hawks tested the trade waters with Young last summer and didn’t like the temperature. Now they should keep trying to do with Young what the Mavs did with Dončić: pair him with a star player of equal or better talent.

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The Mavs became serious contenders when they acquired future Hall of Famer Kyrie Irving at the 2023 trade deadline and persuaded him to sign a contract extension. They added Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington at last season’s trade deadline. Those moves catapulted the Mavs to the 2024 NBA Finals, where they were no match for the Celtics. What seemed to be the start of a contending run for Dallas ended up being the peak of the Dončić era.

The peak of the Hawks’ Young era so far is the 2021 Eastern Conference finals. The reset with Dejounte Murray didn’t work. But Hawks forward Jalen Johnson could become an All-Star or better if he can stay healthy. Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick in the last draft, also might be an All-Star someday. The Hawks traded Murray last summer and acquired a player who should be a big part of the next era, Dyson Daniels, plus two first-round draft picks.

The Hawks have the makings of a good team. They showed that at times this season while navigating a long injury list. Johnson’s season-ending injury was the one that finally broke them. The Hawks should keep building with Young as the foundation.

The tricky part for general manager Landry Fields is that there can be no half measure with Young going forward. If Fields decides to keep building the team around Young, then he’ll have to offer him another contract extension this summer. That’s what Fields should do to retain Young, who is one of the NBA’s better combination scorers and playmakers.

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From there, it’s on coach Quin Snyder and his staff to get the most out of the 23-and-under trio of Johnson, Daniels and Risacher. Fields can take swings in the draft with the 2025 first-round pick from the Lakers and potentially another first-round pick from the Kings (2025 if it’s not top 12, 2026 if it’s not top 10). All the while, Fields can look for opportunities to trade for another star player.

That’s obviously a hard thing to do. Fields managed to acquire All-Star Murray. He isn’t as good as Young and wasn’t a good fit alongside him. Signing Young to an extension might require Fields and Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler to sell Young on the potential of his current young teammates and their plan for getting him more veteran help.

The alternatives to keeping Young long-term aren’t good. The trade market for him likely is cooler now than last summer. He’s producing his least efficient scoring season since he was a rookie and, more important, he’s a year closer to being able to opt-out of his contract. Teams interested in Young can just wait while maneuvering to sign him in summer 2026.

If Fields doesn’t sign Young to an extension or trade him for what surely would be a relatively paltry return, then Young could opt out of his contract next summer. Young would have the option of leaving Atlanta, with the Hawks getting nothing in return. That scenario could have happened to the Mavs with Dončić, who also has a contract opt-out in summer 2026.

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Dallas general manager Nico Harrison told reporters that Dončić‘s contract status was part of the motivation for trading him. The Mavs had to decide whether to offer Dončić to a “supermax” extension while evaluating whether he would accept it. Harrison said that by trading Donic, the Mavs “got out in front of what could have been a tumultuous summer.”

Harrison cited “culture” as the reason for moving on from Dončić. That’s an oblique reference to Dončić’s issues with conditioning and his casual approach to defense. Those are things that could and should be worked out when the alternative is trading a top-5 player in the league. The Mavs decided to move on with Davis. He’s an elite defender but is nearing the downside of his career.

The Mavs made out when they acquired No. 3 pick Dončić for No. 5 pick Young on draft night. Dončić can do everything that Young can do while standing six inches taller and weighing (at least) 60 pounds heavier. The Hawks still ended up with a special player. Few players in the league can elevate their offense like Young can. Yet, if the Hawks trade him, they won’t get same kind of package for him as the Mavs got for Dončić.

The Hawks shouldn’t want to trade Young. They should convince him to sign a contract extension this summer, continue to grow their young core and do everything possible to add another top-level talent. The Luka Dončić era is over in Dallas. The Trae Young era should continue in Atlanta.