There are no plans for extension talks between Trae Young and the Hawks this summer, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (subscriber link).
As Fischer indicated during a Bleacher Report live stream on Thursday, Young and his camp have been resigned for a while to the idea that he’ll have to play out the final guaranteed year on his current deal. He’ll face a decision on a $49MM player option next summer.
Fischer reports that when Young was represented by Klutch Sports, Rich Paul viewed him as a potential partner for Victor Wembanyama. At the time, Paul was hoping to get one of his points guards to the Spurs, whether it was Young, De’Aaron Fox or Darius Garland.
Fischer states that Fox’s contract expiring a year before Young’s brought a sense of urgency to his future, along with Fox’s desire to relocate to Texas. San Antonio acquired him from Sacramento in a three-team deal in February and gave him a four-year max extension last week.
Young is now represented by CAA, and Fischer makes it clear that he’s not looking to force his way out of Atlanta. The Hawks appear to be a legitimate contender after upgrading their roster over the summer, and Fischer states that Kristaps Porzingis may be the best scoring forward Young has ever teamed up with.
Fischer notes that Atlanta’s improvement could boost Young’s chances of earning All-NBA honors this season, which would increase the value of a five-year extension into the $350MM range.
Sources tell Fischer that Young is disappointed that the Hawks haven’t reached out to him about an extension. However, that could change if he pushes them back toward the playoffs. If it doesn’t happen, he may wind up as one of the top free agents in next year’s market.
Fischer adds that Young’s strong relationship with coach Quin Snyder adds to the optimism that a new deal will eventually get worked out.
I’d do Trae to PHX for Jalen Green, Royce O’Neale & a future top5 protected 1st. I’d also trade him to LAL for LeBron, Bronny & a future unprotected 1st rn.
I’ve grown to love Trae over his time here in Atlanta. But as great as he is, the fact is that we need him now less than ever. Guys like Dre, John, Clint, Kev, Gallo & even Bogdan were all basically catch & score guys that benefited greatly from Trae setting them up. The crew we have now are mostly all great passers/playmakers in their own right & could put up consistent/efficient #s even without an elite pg like Trae. Vit especially is ready to take on a bigger role as a lead guard. Jalen Johnson, Dice, Nickeil, Bufkin, Zacch are all willing passers with decent ball-handling skills & above average court vision. Getting Jalen Green for Trae would be best case scenario. I’d rather not take Royce back but as long as we get Green that would be a W.
The Young for Green+FRP trade is an interesting idea. The Phoenix first rounder would be in the 22-30 range because that’s all they have to offer.
The situation reminds of Brandon Ingram in NOLA, which lasted 15 months. The player can’t be traded because he believes he’s worth $15-$20M more than the market does. As with Ingram, few, if any, teams have interest in the player at any price because of specific perceived deficiencies (fairly or not).
If Young isn’t willing to sign in the $40M range with the Hawks, we’ll likely see something like the Green deal you deprive.
smh what do y’all be talking about? Few teams wanted prime BI, who plays a premium position at an all-star level? As with BI, Trae will get a huge well deserved contract & continue to play at an all-star level.
That’s exactly right, Sankara. Ingram wanted $50M, which NOLA felt was too high so Ingram asked to be traded. When NOLA could not find a taker for Ingram last July, it gave Ingram’s agent the freesom to find a deal.
Toronto was the best deal that Ingram and agent could find, and it does not reflect the All-Star value you siggest. Ingram signed for 3 years at $40M/yr, about $10M/yr less than the $50M he reportedly wanted. New Orleans received back from Toronto one first rounder, one second rounder and some filler. That’s not All-Star.