Everyone in the NBA world is keeping an eye on what could happen next between Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks.
The 2024-25 season offered the same struggles. For the second straight year, they failed to enter the 2025 NBA Playoffs, being eliminated by the Miami Heat.
And for this, even Bill Simmons thinks that this might be the official end of Young’s run in Atlanta.
It is now a long time since Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks marched to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. Since then, they have only gone backwards.
Besides underachieving year by year, what makes Young’s future in Atlanta considerably shaky is the Hawks’ current roster construction.
Compared to the veteran-laden team that he had years prior, the 26-year-old has embraced a much youthful group behind him this season headlined by 2024 top overall pick Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Dyson Daniels who emerged as their breakout star in his first campaign as a Hawk.
Acknowledging the timeline gap and the recent dismissal of general manager Landry Fields, the Hawks have a route to commencing a new chapter through rebuild and potentially moving on from Young.
Yet despite these possible circumstances, the franchise star is reportedly committed to the fullest with Atlanta according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.
“I had him on my show last week and I asked him about that, just about where he’s at with the organization within his career. And he said he’s in a good spot.
“He said he knew that there was going to be speculation once the Hawks went to a younger core, had the No. 1 pick.
“He knew there was going to be speculation about his future, but he said he bought in. He took [Zaccharie Risacher], No. 1 pick, to his hometown of Oklahoma to show him around and spend some time with him right after Zach was drafted just to get him engaged,” Haynes revealed in The Dan Patrick Show.
“And so he’s somebody who, again, just told me about a week and a half ago that he’s down with the process. He wants to see this Atlanta Hawks squad turn the corner, and he wants to be a pivotal part in that.
“And then, he changed his game this past season. I think we know that Trey’s a great facilitator, but he modified his game. Like, it wasn’t just shoot-first Trey.
“You know, this was a guy who was getting guys involved. And so that speaks to his maturity and that speaks to him trying to empower his teammates.”
Young truly elevated his playmaking game to the next level this season. Despite averaging his second lowest points (24.) since joining the Hawks in 2018, Young still thrived at the other hand by becoming one of the league leaders in statistical board with 11.6 assists.
Young’s time in Atlanta is marred by plenty of All-Star snubs and being dubbed as the “most disrespected” player in the league.
Regardless, according to Haynes, Young remains motivated to run things back and be the one responsible of leading the Hawks to an NBA title one day.
“There are definitely are teams out there who are monitoring his situation and trying to see if there’s going to become a point this offseason where he can be had and where he can be moved. Because he’s definitely a guy who wants [winning],” Haynes continued.
“Trae is one of the most competitive guys in this league. When he went to that Conference Finals a few years ago, played against [Milwaukee Bucks], he wanted to continue on. He wanted the organization to do things, to make moves, to keep the team on a trajectory.
“Now, they took a little backstep in recent years. He wants to get back to that point. But as of now, I can say I haven’t heard anything on Trae’s side that would lead me to believe that he wants out.”
Loyalty runs deep for Young in Atlanta. And for as long as he remains determined to keep it going with them, the Hawks necessarily should do everything to repay their franchise centerpiece.
