Within the last week, a pair of star point guards have finalized maximum-salary extensions with their respective NBA teams: Luka Doncic signed a three-year deal with the Lakers, while De’Aaron Fox completed a four-year contract with the Spurs.
Hawks guard Trae Young has been eligible since the start of July for the same extensions that Doncic and Fox just signed (up to $222.4MM over four years), and while his NBA résumé doesn’t quite stack up to Doncic’s, it compares favorably to Fox’s.
Young has made four All-Star teams (Fox has one All-Star nod) and led Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. He has a career scoring average of 25.3 points per game and led the NBA with a career-high 11.6 assists per game in 2024/25.
Still, there have been no indications that the Hawks and Young are engaged in serious discussions about a new deal or that an extension agreement is imminent, as an ESPN panel discussed during Tuesday’s episode of NBA Today (YouTube link; hat tip to RealGM).
“Trae has done a lot to show that he’s invested in the Hawks,” ESPN’s Marc J. Spears said. “Nickeil Alexander-Walker, (Luke) Kennard, he convince them to sign with the Hawks. Instead of going to the Jordan (Brand event in Greece) this summer, he came to Summer League and he got to meet with (new senior VP of basketball operations) Bryson Graham… (and) some other new front office guys. There’s a new front office in Atlanta that’s trying to make decisions.”
In addition to adding Alexander-Walker and Kennard in free agency, the Hawks made a trade for big man Kristaps Porzingis and will get forward Jalen Johnson back after a shoulder injury ended his 2024/25 season early. Atlanta has been lauded for its offseason work and is viewed as a strong playoff contender in the East after being eliminated in the play-in tournament this past spring.
While it remains possible that the Hawks and Young will work out a new multiyear deal at some point in the next couple months, Spears believes the season may begin without an extension in place for the star point guard.
“What I’m hearing now at this point – and you can tell by Trae’s tweet and I saw him during the Finals – I think he’s disappointed that it hasn’t come, it hasn’t been offered,” Spears said of a potential extension. “So don’t be surprised if he plays this out and sees what happens next summer.”
The tweet Spears was referring to was posted by Young last week in response to star NFL pass rusher Micah Parsons, who submitted a trade request to the Dallas Cowboys in the midst of a public contract standoff.
“This why you pay the man early,” Young wrote. “When someone will take less early to stay in a place he wanted to be forever, you do it… the price only goes up now! Get what you deserve bro!”
We don’t know for sure whether Young’s remarks about Parsons’ situation can be applied to his own contract negotiations with the Hawks or whether he’s willing to accept less than his max to finalize an agreement this summer. Still, the fact that Young chose to post that comment publicly raised some eyebrows.
As talented a scorer and passer as Young is, the Hawks also have to weigh the fact that his 41.1% field goal percentage in 2024/25 was a career low and he has never been an especially strong defender. The new-look front office, led by general manager Onsi Saleh, may also want to evaluate his fit with the team’s new players before making a massive long-term investment in the 26-year-old.
Young will earn about $46MM in 2025/26 and holds a player option worth just shy of $49MM for the ’26/27 season. He would remain extension-eligible during the coming season as long as he declines that player option as part of an extension agreement.
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“Young has made four All-Star teams (Fox has one All-Star nod) and led Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.”
Is it harder to get to the all star game in the west?
Pretty much everything is harder in the West.
Definitely, and harder to make the conference finals too. I wouldn’t necessarily use those achievements to argue that Young is a better player than Fox — just pointing out that he has a case for a similar extension based on what he has accomplished so far.
Get it done!!! When you evaluate Trae against other dominant PGs in the league, it would be hard to find one better. Of course, it is vital that he is able to mesh with this new roster. It would be unfair to him to start the season without giving him that opportunity, and to do so with the calm relief of a new, fair contract.
The fans also deserve to see how this is going to work. If things do fall apart, the team can still trade him early in the season or at the deadline. But there is no purpose of starting the season without a happy star PG.
He, in his time with the team has,it seams, played on many different teams with the same name. The front office is constantly blowing up the team from year to year instead of making big moves to improve the team. Not just with players, but with one of the better coaches in the league. Of course I’m talking about coach Bud (all NBA fans know who I’m talking about. I can’t spell it). They now have a good coach with what looks like a good team. Now they have a good coach. Sign Trae, keep moving forward, and give this city and her fans what they deserve.
If things do fall apart, the team can still trade him early in the season or at the deadline. But there is no purpose of starting the season without a happy star PG.
If they sign Trae to a max extension and things fall apart they will not be able to trade him. He was rumored to be on the on the block last offseason with almost no interest. A max extension would immediately be the most untradeable contract in the league.
They almost have to do it… or trade him to the Wizards and let them overpay another guard.
If he signs extension it will be a year later he can be traded. That is why the Front office has not offered yet to see if is a fit with the new players.
He’ll always be a target on defense. But with the right cast around him, and with Johnson, Hawks can be good. Maybe a rim protector?
Prediction for how it goes down for Trae and the Hawks:
1. In a down year in the East (with Boston, Indy, and Philly taking the year off), Hawks finish 6th behind Cavs, Knicks, Orlando, Detroit, and Milwaukee. Hawks lose in 6 games in the the first round of the playoffs.
2. Hawks do not offer to extend Young by the end of the season.
3. With no interest from other teams, Young exercises his $49M/yr player option for 2026-27.
@ Aristotle…everything has to revert back to the Warriors doesn’t it, lols.
Here’s another take: the Hawks want off Trae Young because they don’t believe he can win in the playoffs. Atlanta has lost 3 straight play-in games. The year before that, the Celtics exposed them. The Hawks have been trying hard to move Young for the last 2 years, but there are no takers.
Great offensively, but Young is a huge defensive liability, maybe the biggest of any guard in the league. The Hawks have surrounded Young with strong defenders (Daniels, Alexander-Walker, etc), which helps in the regular season, but in the post-season offenses are prepared to ruthlessly go at Young, and it can’t be stopped. Watch what Miami did to Trae in the play-in loss a couple of seasons ago for a clinic on how to expose a frail defender.
Like Steph Curry, Young came into the NBA with a very light frame. Unlike Curry, Young has not worked on his body. Until/unless Young can become much physically stronger, he’ll never be a winning PG.
By his standards, he had a below-average year last season. He played worse, by most metrics and by the eye test, than he did in 2019-2022.
Shot the ball worse than ever before, rebounded less, tried to care on defense, but it didn’t matter as he just doesn’t have the defensive capacity, turned it over more, drew fewer fouls per shot attempt.
His tendency to run the pick’n’roll so deep in the paint got him into trouble a lot. The handle was loose. He did not let assists come naturally due to playmaking and reading the unfolding plays, but was forcing passes and, as a result, turned it over a ton.
He always had a good connection with Capella, and when Okongwu overtook him as a starter, Trae struggled. And now Clint is gone from there.
If next season he plays like he did in his best years, he’ll be a positive. If he plays like he did in 24-25, they’re not getting anywhere.
The Hawks have just started to surround Trae with D. The most important piece is a rim protector. Which Capela was for two yrs. But now there is a whole new cast around him. Offensively Trae is one of best PGs around. If you invest in him. You have to invest in team D.
One thing to note, just because you can extend a year sooner, doesn’t mean you have to do it. I predict well see more Embiid situations with this setup of extending earlier. An injury creating more albatross contracts.
> If you invest in him. You have to invest in team D.
So far, so bad.
Atlanta should be in no rush. Atlanta could move on and be fine in my opinion. They’d get a nice return and got a squad in place. A squad that plays both ends, except Trae. These new max extensions are team killers. Makes the going deep and competing for a title window real small.
Seems like the “nice return” might not be forthcoming, based on last year’s trade rumors … this looming extension might’ve been a big part of that. Who in the entire league trades for him on a max contract? Actually you know what, maybe they should give the Bulls a call …
Dyson and Johnson, Okongwu are solid D guys. Hawks just don’t stick it out. Went from East Finals. To #1 pick in draft.
Why not, pay the man. He needs more hair plugs
Atlanta needs to get away from Trae, I think. There are a couple of things he does well, but too many things he does poorly at. You can’t hide him on D, and it’s only going to get worse. He has to be paired with an elite rim protector, but the output to that is no better than a middling D – if you have an elite guy in the middle, you want to have an elite D overall, not have it diluted.
The turnovers, the poor shooting, the poor D..that’s basically impossible to build around.
Trae is one of the best point guards in the league probably top 6 in his position. Hawks haven’t done much to help with his defensive issues until recently and they’ve never added a co star to ply alongside him.
If they do end up trading him I’m sure he will make them look like idiots and continue to really produce.
He’s an elite shooter and scorer, plus one of the best playmakers/facilitators in the league. He’s probably the closest thing to Steph Curry there is and yes he sucks at defence but so does Luka, so does LeBron, so do a lot of guys.
Think he’d be awesome in Minny with Ant, McDaniels and Gobert. That would be my ideal landing spot if I’m him. Hopefully use Randle and some other contracts going off the books to make a play for him in FA cause I don’t see a trade being likely. But that smaller market, playing second fiddle on a team that’s already solid defensively would be great for him. Teams couldn’t simply double him on the perimeter with Ant able to shoot or attack the rim. Gobert would benefit as a lob threat. McDaniels then be a great option on the wing likely facing mismatches.
I really like their young guys Terrance Shannon and Beringer. On top of that you’ve got Naz Reid as a sixth man off the bench. Stops the progression for Dillingham and for now they probably see him as being ANTs long term backcourt teammate but Trae would be a massive upgrade that makes them a real title contender.
As for ATL, Daniel’s could easily slide into starting PG and have a more score first shooting guard come in like a Jalen Green, Shaedon Sharpe, Jordan Poole type of guy there. With the 3 and 4 being Risacher and Jalen. That would be pretty interesting to see. A bunch of athletic guys that can switch around defensively 1-4 almost with a centre in the paint protecting the rim. Similar to Toronto style of big switchable wings
Elite shooter? Come on now. We have all seen him play, we have seen the numbers. He is a high usage high output guy without efficiency or defense. This season will be the best team the hawks have had in a long time and the East is wide open. The hawks are wise to let it play out without an extension. Most likely outcome is that he opts in to that final year, Name the team thats going to swoop in with a max offer.
The numbers in terms of efficiency might not be great but as you said we have all seen him play. Not many guys have the range he does. He can comfortably shoot from half way, his 3 ball is absolutely elite. You can just pressure him inside either cause he’s got one of the best floaters in the league too. He’s one of the best lob throwers, and he misses well at the rim for his size and weight.
I think a lot of his efficiency and outpost with hurt because he’s never had a second star to play with and take that pressure off him. Teams have been allowed to full court pressure him, and double team him and it’s worked.
And as I said Minnesota would be perfect once Randle, DiVan, Conley all come off the books that opens up Trae Young money
He’s not an elite shooter – he’s a volume scorer. Big difference. He shot 41% from the field and 34% from 3 last season.
Career shooting:
Trae
.433/.352/.875
Steph
.471/.423/.911
Tell us again how Trae is the “closest thing to Steph Curry there is”. What an awful take.
As above, plus look at who Steph has had beside him. Klay is one of the the best shooters of all time and would give you 20. Draymond Green is the playmaker and facilitator of that offence and curry gets to run around of picks and screens into more open looks. I’m not saying Trae is on par or better but he’s got the shooting ability, the range, the floater and the handle like Curry. He’s just never been remotely close to having the same environment or teammates
They should just wait… Pelicans will give them the first overall pick anyway.
I saw Dejounte has gained 14 lbs during his rehab for an Achilles… always a good sign….