What will the tone be for the Atlanta Hawks this season? Will it be one of ebullience as the new additions fit like gloves and the young cast of Hawks all develop positively? Or will it be one of tension, as the team's on-court play is overshadowed by murmurs of Trae Young's future plans, and whether or not they involve the Hawks?
I don't know. I hope, for Hawks' fans sake, it's the former. We will get a better idea less than three weeks from today, when the team holds its media day. I don't want to spoil anything, but a lot of questions asked to both Young and GM Onsi Saleh will be about Young's contract — which he is entering the final guaranteed year of, with a player option for 2026-27 — and whether negotiations are ongoing.
Hawks front office can make their intentions clear
While nobody expects Saleh or Young to give away too much information, the way they answer these questions will set an early tone for a season that should be lots of fun, but will also have an undertone of tension if fans think Trae might legitimately leave. In the words of Brian Windhorst on The Hoop Collective podcast:
"So, that's a thing... There's always a dozen or so things on media day that you wanna see, and one of the things on media day is what Trae Young says about. Whether Trae Young is going to... Make this an issue or not. Certainly something to keep an eye on. But that is a big thing for the Hawks going forward."
Young, of course, makes the final decision on whether he signs a contract. But Saleh can quell fans' fears by making his intentions clear in the matter: saying something along the lines of, "Trae Young is our franchise player and we expect him to be a Hawk for a long time," would work. Okay, front office people are rarely that direct, but you know what I'm saying.
If Saleh takes the "mum is the word" route and sounds noncommital, and if Young takes that same approach, Hawks fans will immediately break glass and sound the alarm. And while it might sound dramatic to get nervous about what could happen next summer before this season even starts, a GM publicly stating that they want to bring a player back holds weight to fans — and probably the player themself.
What's the point of all these car parts without an engine?
Okay, I don't want to actually compare the non-Trae Young players on this Hawks roster to mufflers or catalytic converters because they're human beings, but you get what I'm saying with this metaphor, right?
The Hawks losing Trae Young after this season, one year after finally surrounding him with a roster that complements him perfectly, would be disastrous. I love Jalen Johnson's game, and Dyson Daniels' game, and (maybe) Zaccharie Risacher's game, but without Young, this team wouldn't have the foundation that its been trying to build around since that 2021 ECF run. Having just a car engine like this team did in past seasons is no better than having every part except a car engine.
All that to say... there's no reason to make this dramatic. The front office built this team to maximize Trae Young. Even playing around with the idea that this team doesn't actually need Trae Young anymore would be silly. And we'll find out soon if that idea is percolating in the brains of the decision-makers. It really shouldn't be.