Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young is out for another couple of weeks. But his future has remained a hot topic long after the trade deadline has passed.
So, during a new interview, the three-time All-Star was asked about those rumors and whether or not he still wanted to be in Atlanta with the Hawks. The Hawks star maintained the position he has held for his entire career.
“Hopefully,” he told Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks on March 5.
“They’d never won a championship in Atlanta. … Me getting drafted there felt like a match made in Heaven. Like, This is something I want to do. I can defeat the odds here, too.”
Young is in the second year of a five-year, $215 million contract. But he has an early termination option for the 2026-27 season, and there was speculation the Hawks made him available ahead of the deadline this year and that they could make him available again this offseason.
Young has never wavered from his desire to win a championship in Atlanta.
He has leaned into the first part of that desire more in recent seasons, though. And he also understands the nature of the NBA.
“It's part of it,” Young said about the rumors via Jameelah Johnson on February 18. “Obviously, my mindset is staying in Atlanta right now, and I don't get caught up in all the rumors and stuff. My contract is locked in for a couple years, so I don't have very much saying it right now.”
Hawks' Trae Young wants to win championships
Young was clear that he wanted to join the rare company of players who spent their careers with one team, noting winning championships as part of the criteria.
“My whole vision was to always be here. My goal is to win here,” Young told Rooks. “Win championships, bring people here with me and build this championship here and dynasty here. But who knows? It’s Year 6, and who knows? For me, I want that.”
Young stressed that he wants to be in Atlanta and that he wants to win.
“You’ve heard it from the source,” Young said. “I just wanna win. So if that’s in Atlanta, that’s where I wanna be. That’s where I envision myself being. But – that’s it.”
This will hardly quell the trade rumors as we get closer to the offseason and into the next transaction window. At the most, it sounds like Young is putting the onus on the Hawks to make the decision on his future, either with a championship-caliber roster or a trade.
But the decision will unequivocally be theirs while Young is under contract.