Asked during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show (YouTube link) about Trae Young‘s future in Atlanta, NBA insider Chris Haynes said the Hawks guard has expressed to him that he’s “down with the process” and wants to see a young Atlanta team “turn the corner.” However, while Haynes hasn’t heard anything from Young’s camp to indicate that he’s seeking a change of scenery, he acknowledged that there are “definitely teams out there who are monitoring his situation.”
Within his preview of the Hawks’ offseason, John Hollinger of The Athletic also explores what’s in store for Young and the Hawks, noting that it’s hard to get a read on the team’s direction because there are already so many individuals who have some say in the front office, even before Atlanta hires a new head of basketball operations.
In addition to team owner Tony Ressler and his son Nick Ressler, executives who have a voice in personnel decisions include general manager Onsi Saleh, assistant GM Kyle Korver, and advisers Chris Grant and Chris Emens. Tony Ressler also sometimes asks for input from people outside of the basketball operations department, including minority owner Grant Hill. According to Hollinger, Hill is viewed by some sources as Ressler’s top choice to run the front office, but seems satisfied with his USA Basketball job.
While there has been “chatter” about the possibility of the Hawks entertaining a Young trade this offseason, it remains to be seen how strong his market would be, according to Hollinger, who suggests one possible reason the team traded Dejounte Murray instead of Young a year ago was because it would’ve been more difficult to extract value for Young.
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Terry Rozier (ankle sprain) and Kevin Love (personal reasons) will be unavailable for the Heat in Game 2 of their series vs. Cleveland on Wednesday. Head coach Erik Spoelstra says he “feels” for both players, praising Rozier for maintaining a good work ethic even when he’s out of the rotation and adding that the team is there for Love during “what he’s going through,” per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
- Rozier told reporters that he’s “super frustrated” about injuring his ankle in a scrimmage, but he said the injury is already improving and didn’t require an MRI, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Heat guard described his status as “day to day.”
- The Magic aren’t bothered by Al Horford‘s complaints about Orlando’s “extra” physicality in Game 1, including a hard foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that resulted in Celtics star Jayson Tatum injuring his wrist. According to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required), head coach Jamahl Mosley said he didn’t think Caldwell-Pope deserved to be called for a flagrant foul on that play, while guard Cole Anthony said the Magic play “the right way” and aren’t trying to hurt anyone. “We’re going to keep mucking it up,” Anthony added. “You’re just giving us good feedback.”
- The Wizards were voted the NBA’s second-worst organization in The Athletic’s latest player poll, with Brian Keefe receiving the most votes for the league’s worst coach. As Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes, those results suggest the Wizards have work to do to adjust the outside perception of the team, though veterans like Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton have said since arriving in D.C. that they’ve been pleasantly surprised by how the organization functions.
Trae Young is pretty much hollow stats. If you’re posting 24 pts and 10 assists your teams should be better than the 8th-10th seed each year.
I would shop Trae. He is really just on a 1 yr deal tho. So I don’t see a huge return. He can walk in 26-27.
If Houston gets bounced, and they strike out on everyone else… you could flip FVV and picks for Trae.
The money is basically even, and you keep the rest of your young core. They need some veteran leadership, but they still have moveable contracts if they wanted to do something.
For the Hawks. Their pick plus some Suns picks… could have multiple top of the lottery picks.
I think if Trae was willing to accept a slightly below market 3 year deal I wouldn’t mind keeping him if I’m the Hawks. They have all these young rangy wings that can kinda cover for him in Daniels, risacher and Johnson and he can provide vet presence and offensive engine while those guys develop more. No real overlap with any young talent
Everyone loves to hate on Trae but what separates him from a guy like Dame?
Both haven’t had any help, both haven’t had much playoff success, both guys teams were about .500.
Dame is just loved by fans and Trae is hated.
Both are equally as good as shooters and scorers. Trae is a better ball handler and playmaker and Dame is better defensively.
Either get Trae some real help and then judge all you want otherwise trade him and watch him prosper next another star
I think it’s unfair just to say that the wizards is considered the 2nd worst organization coz they’re rebuilding.. duh! Did they ask all the employees personally if they’re happy or not in this org… what’s the criteria on this???
It’s not just about their current situation but about their history, they’ve always kinda sucked.
I agree they are rebuilding and on a better trajectory but still even when the guys are clicking they underachieve and mess things up
Wiz had Beal and Wall and failed to build a contender around them.
Trae makes sense for Orlando, but the magic execs are afraid to make that move.