Hawks guard Trae Young and head coach Nate McMillan both downplayed an alleged confrontation that occurred earlier this month, but there has been chatter that their relationship has gotten worse since then, according to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, who said one league executive referred to the situation in Atlanta as “toxic.”
“When they win, everybody’s happy for a minute,” one source told Bulpett. “But when they lose, it gets messy. Instead of trying to get it figured out, there’s a lot of blame being thrown around.”
According to Bulpett, one opposing coach said that Young and McMillan don’t like each other, and suggested that “other players have issues with Trae” as well.
“There were teams that questioned whether he’d ever be this good because of his size when he was coming out,” a front office source said of Young. “So it’s good to have that kind of fight in you. But at some point, you’d hope he’d realize the effect he can have on his team, both positive and negative. Sometimes you have to take a step back and maybe take a hit to make the whole thing work.”
Meanwhile, although John Collins‘ name has once again come up in trade rumors, sources who spoke to Bulpett pointed to the big man’s contract as a potential roadblock as the Hawks seek a trade partner. He’s still owed $78.5MM across three seasons after this one.
“He’s not a bad player. He’s actually a good player,” a source told Bulpett. “The problem is he’s not worth 23-and-a-half million. There are places he could go where he’d really be helping a team and really be happy, but right now that contract is in the way. We’ll see if anyone’s going to bite or if Atlanta’s going to make it worth another team’s while.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Asked on Tuesday if there’s a chance Delon Wright will return to action for the Wizards on Thursday, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. responded, “I hope so,” tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Wright has been on the shelf for nearly two months, but finally seems on the verge of being reactivated.
- In a story for The Athletic, Robbins and Jovan Buha explore whether it’s realistic to think the Wizards and Lakers could work out a trade that sends Bradley Beal to Los Angeles for Russell Westbrook and draft picks. Robbins is skeptical, but points out that Beal’s no-trade clause will make it challenging for the Wizards to maximize the guard’s value if he ever wants to be dealt, since he could veto deals to unwanted destinations.
- With several Heat regulars unavailable, Victor Oladipo made his first start of the year and played a season-high 34 minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Chicago. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays, head coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear after the game that he doesn’t intend to lean that heavily on Oladipo often as he continues to work his way back to 100%. “I wouldn’t have done this with Vic if it wasn’t clearly communicated with him and with the training staff and if we didn’t have two days after the last game, two days before the next game,” Spoelstra said.
Trae is a cancer and McMillan is a mediocre head coach who is never going to win a championship. Unfortunately for Nate, the former tends to win out in these disputes so it’s only a matter of time before he’s canned. And it should be done ASAP.
JC’s worth more than his contract, as a matter of fact his deal is a cheap one!
McMillan Can only play the players he is given. Atlanta needs to make a trade.
What the problem with ATL is, is that there is no veterans. As the article says when they win they are happy and when they lose they sulk and don’t knuckle down and work on things. That’s where you need a respected vet that sorts out the little locker room issues, won’t let players sulk, holds everyone even the stars accountable. It’s not only them it’s across the nba a lack of these leaders but atl is clearly showing the signs on needing one.
Say what you want about Trae but he’s a phenomenal player and he’s trying to lead this team but unlike previous years he doesn’t really have anyone to lean on or help him out with that. Look at the Celtics they had IT, then Kyrie, then Kemba at point guard, they currently have Al Horford and Marcus Smart and look at how much improved Tatum is at leading them.
Curry does a fantastic job is GSW and for obvious reasons Trae is often compared to him but Curry wasn’t expected to lead GSW to the playoffs every year from a young age he grew into a leadership role. He also had vets like Shaun Livingston and Iggy among others. Plus you could make the argument Draymond is actually the leader of that team really.
Idk I just think Trae needs a vet to help him. Even if it’s like Jae Crowder, Marcus Morris or someone of that ilk. A role player with a bunch of experience on all sorts of teams that knows what it takes to win games and can help Trae out
Collins. Bojan. Capella. Are all vets.
That’s three veterans out of fifteen players. Trae, Dejountae, Onyeka, and De’Andre Hunter are the future for ATL. They need help so they aren’t a four player team.