A quick look at recent comments from Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young ahead of the regular season opener later this week.
According to a story by Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks has boundless confidence about his team in the coming 2019-20 season.
In fact, Young was unequivocal when speaking to Spears about the Hawks’ chances of making the Eastern Conference Playoffs after the team won 29 games last season: “Next season, the Atlanta Hawks will surprise everybody,” Young told Spears, regarding the team’s playoff aspirations in the 2019-20 season.
Young, who has partnered with The Undefeated for a season-long video diary, had more to say to Spears. The full video can be found here.
Certainly, Young has every reason to believe the team will be better than they were last year, as one could reasonably expect baked-in improvement from the team’s young core of Young, Kevin Huerter and John Collins as well as the influx of three talented rookies in the form of #4 overall pick De’Andre Hunter, #10 overall pick Cam Reddish and #34 overall pick Bruno Fernando.
Despite all that new talent, the team does lack in some key areas, such as perimeter defense (and interior defense and transition defense and half-court defense, etc.) along with three-point shooting – now that the team is without Taurean Prince, Kent Bazemore and Dewayne Dedmon due to trades or free agency decisions.
Despite that, the East seems to be teeming with teams that range from middling to outright bad, and perhaps the Atlanta Hawks will be able to simply outscore those teams with a dynamic offense led by the talented Young and his youthful teammates.
The regular season starts soon, so get excited! Read up on the team’s projected starting lineup as well as our analysis of the team’s offseason in depth. The Hawks’ first game is Thursday in Detroit at 7:00 p.m. EST.