As rumors continue to swirl about his future with the Hawks, Trae Young has changed agents, announcing (via Twitter) that he has signed with CAA Sports. He was previously represented by Klutch Sports.
Marc Stein reported last month that Young’s father Rayford Young recently became a certified NBA agent, but it’s unclear if Rayford will be part of his son’s group of reps at CAA.
A three-time All-Star, Young is coming off another strong statistical season, having averaged 25.7 points and a career-high 10.8 assists in 36.0 minutes per game across 54 starts for Atlanta. However, the Hawks have posted a sub-.500 record across the last three seasons and have only won three total playoff games during that stretch, so there’s an expectation that major changes are coming to the roster this summer, possibly affecting Young or backcourt mate Dejounte Murray.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- After finishing third in Defensive Player of the Year voting, Bam Adebayo‘s last chance to meet the super-max performance criteria this spring is to claim a spot on one of the league’s three All-NBA teams, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. If he doesn’t earn All-NBA honors, the Heat big man will still be eligible for a very lucrative contract extension this summer, worth up to approximately $165MM over three years. However, a super-max deal would be worth significantly more than that ($245MM over four years), and Adebayo could still meet the criteria with an All-NBA nod or DPOY win in 2025, so there’s no guarantee he’ll pursue an extension this summer.
- Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald believes it’s time to consider a roster overhaul in Miami, arguing that the Heat‘s current core isn’t good enough to win a title and that the “root-canal offense” needs to change. Jackson suggests that the front office should seriously weigh the possibility of trading Jimmy Butler or making a “significant lateral move” if the team’s non-Butler and non-Adebayo assets aren’t enough to acquire a third star.
- While Deni Avdija‘s breakout performance received more attention, third-year Wizards wing Corey Kispert may have raised his long-term ceiling in 2023/24 by becoming more of a three-level scoring threat instead of just a three-point shooter, writes Bijan Todd of Monumental Sports Network. According to Todd, new Wizards general manager Will Dawkins and president Michael Winger spoke to Kispert before last season about expanding his game and getting to the rim more often. “[Attacking the rim] changed everything. It changed everything. It seemed like my first two years, if I put the ball on the floor, the other team was just cool with it. That’s what they wanted me to do,” Kispert said. “But now it felt a little bit different. It felt like there were multiple layers to what teams had to do to stop what I was trying to do. Just because I put the ball on the deck doesn’t mean the job’s done for the defense anymore.”
If you’re trading Trae, why not just blow it up ala OKC? What’s the point of keeping Bogdan, Hunter, Murray, and Capela? Might as well get everything you can for that lot and see what you have in Okongwu, Griffin, Bufkin, and Johnson.
I can’t remember if they did or didn’t extend Bey but he would seem to be in their plans.
You’re drafting 10th maybe you go Ron Holland, Matas, Knecht, or Cody Williams on the wing to play ahead of Griffin.
If you pick up firsts in this years draft during your sell off maybe you can get Stephon Castle or Collier as your lead guard for the future.
Trading Trae is just lottery purgatory anyway. Good enough to not be last.
N.B.A. do not waste Trae talent expertise play some with a well-rounded team
Barry Jackson is right Miami. It’s time to let go.
Barry Jackson has turned into an anger sports columnist where he projects things he doesn’t know about. He no longer has any real understanding of baseball or basketball, similarly for Ira winderman, and should just stick to dolphins/Canes stuff…
Atlanta has kind of had so many up and down roster decisions/trades/aquirings/drafts where their outlook probably needs to be looked at again. I still think they should have moved on from Capela 3 years ago, and they really messed up by losing Huerter for nothing. That being said, I thought they could have been right there in that 6 spot mix with slightly different rotation decisions, especially once Trae Young went out…
Basically, losing Huerter may have put them in position where moving Trae Young is the play. I don’t exactly know where there are strong roster fits for him though, but Atlanta needs a 2/3 that can space the floor, defend multiple positions, doesn’t need the ball in his hands. They have young guys I really like that haven’t been used the way I think they could be, and that can potentially be options in that spot. I may have considered starting Garrison Matthews or Dylan Windler next to Murray, and also utilizing Wesley Matthews, even at his age. Now they’re without Saddiq Bey, so they could use an additional option at the 3/4 (next to Hunter/Griffin, but that 2/3 spot is still the biggest issue, in my opinion
Kispert hasn’t really been used right since he was drafted, among all the other Washington players in similar boat, so when he starts getting time on the wing, next to the right people, it’s not surprising to see improved results. Between him and Coulabaly, they have actual options on the wing now, and they should use those guys better
Trae Young for Ben Simmons??
And all the picks they got?
Trae to Orlando for Wendell, Cole Anthony and Denver`s (AG trade) next year first round pick.
I’m having a hard time thinking of Trae trade scenarios.
Many have involved a trade to the Spurs, but I doubt Pop wants to bring in someone with his ego and complete lack of size and defense. Of course, in theory, when you have a defense anchored by Wemby it makes someone like Trae more palatable, but I just don’t see it happening ultimately even with the team’s need for a PG.
They also don’t really have a need for a guard like that. They have tre Jones as a playmaker that can adequately defend, and then they have guys like Wesley as a bench guy, or branham, and then they have Sochan with size and defense across the board
They just need to simplify their rotation, much like Okc and Houston the last couple of years
Trae to New Orleans makes a ton of sense
The only problem with Tre is that he can’t shoot. That’s a problem unless Sochan can continue to make significant progress in that area. But I agree that the need for a PG isn’t as big of a deal as it’s made out to be, especially in the context of considering someone like Trae.
Yeah, a “significant lateral move”. The NBA loves them. In any event, the team doesn’t have (close to) the assets to acquire a third “star” by trade, and, even if they did, there is no sound operating model for a team with a payroll that includes three 50+ mm players.
Trae to spurs or magic.