The Atlanta Hawks aren’t taking this offseason lightly. Not that they necessarily took their offseason work lightly in the past. But we have heard multiple times that they did not enter last season with the popper mindset. Too many of them seemed to approach it as if their Eastern Conference Finals appearance meant they had already arrived.
Their five-game drubbing at the hands of the Miami Heat put a stop to all of that and changed the way the front office approached the offseason.
They swung a blockbuster trade with the San Antonio Spurs for Dejounte Murray.
Not satisfied with the external upgrades, several Hawks players joined what has become the trend at this point of the offseason in a star-studded open run that featured one of the game’s best players.
Trae Young and Clint Capela attend open run with Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving
As the Biblical saying goes, “iron sharpens iron”. Put another way, the only way to be the best is to go up against the best. Beating them is another step. But for now, surely the Hawks will take Trae Young getting in some offseason floor work with Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.
Young also shared pictures of Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving in attendance.
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During Game 4 of the Hawks’ playoff series versus the Heat, retired NBA veteran-turned-analyst Jim Jackson pleaded with the Hawks to get Young moving off of the ball more a la Curry.
“The beautiful thing about Steph is you can play Steph off the ball. He’s willing to give it up because you have a playmaker like Draymond, Jordan Poole up top that can facilitate the offense which…makes it easier for Steph to be Steph. You’re asking Trae to handle everything. And he’s going to be less efficient of a player until he finds playmakers…to play him off the ball a little bit.”
With Murray in the fold, the Hawks will not be asking Young to do everything anymore.
But it still wouldn’t hurt for Young to pick up the off-ball movement skills that help to make Curry one of the toughest covers in the NBA – he already has the range.
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Young was not the only Hawks player in attendance at the workout which also featured 2021 first-overall pick, Cade Cunningham. Teammate Clint Capela was also there and share a picture of him and Young on his Instagram with the caption “just work”.
Capela and Young both attended the wedding of Hawks director of Business and Basketball Operations, Nick Ressler a couple of weeks ago.
Young has spent a lot of time with his teammates in workouts and pro-am appearances.
This does nothing but bode well for their on-court and lockerroom chemistry come next season. Then, they could very well have a target on their backs for their boisterous ways. But they will have prepared themselves well for that grind.