Throughout his career, Trae Young has been branded as "not a winning player." While this is criticism is unjust, it is true that building a team around Young is more difficult than around other stars across the league.
Atlanta Hawks teams featuring Young have had to place a unique emphasis on acquiring an abundance of talented perimeter defenders. While perimeter defense is important, you would prefer to spend those resources elsewhere. The Dejounte Murray trade is a prime example of this principle: the team overpaid for a player who can fit next to Young but created other weaknesses.
NBA skills trainer David Thorpe echoed this sentiment on the Yahoo Sports NBA Southeastern Division. When asked if a team built around Young can win a championship, Thorpe said, "Yes, yes, it's not easy. You need someone on a rookie deal wildly outplaying their contract, especially like in year 3 or year 4, or a veteran minimum guy who suddenly found his game again."
While the Hawks don't have a veteran minimum player on the team, they do have two players on rookie scale deals who could reasonably be expected to provide this source of value relative to their contract: Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher.
Daniels and Risacher will decide just how good this Hawks team can be
Daniels only has one year remaining on his rookie deal before he takes a massive pay raise. However, this year also appears to be the best shot any team will have at winning the Eastern Conference after three of the top teams fell to Achilles injuries over the playoffs (which is a terrifying trend).
Daniels already has shown he is capable of outplaying the $7.7 million he will earn this season, finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season. This makes next season arguably the most important for this era of Hawks basketball, as the squad faces its weakest competition and has a proven player on a steal of a deal.
Risacher is the bigger question mark. While he had an extremely impressive finish to last season, he earns much more than Daniels due to being the first overall pick. Risacher will earn $13.1 million this year, $13.8 million in 2026-27, and $17.4 in 2027-28.
For Risacher to outplay this deal, he will have to be a solid starter over these next two seasons and a high-level starter (but not star) in the final year of his deal. This is a reasonable projection for Risacher, who arguably already is playing at a solid starting level. If he can continue his excellent end to his rookie season, where he averaged 14.6 points per game on 50% from the field and 41% from three, the Hawks will have two players on their roster who outplay their salary.
This season is a critical season for the Hawks. Not only is the Eastern Conference the weakest it has been in decades, but they have two players who are outperforming their rookie scale deals. While the team will understandably face growing pains after revamping the roster, Atlanta will never have an easier path to playoff success.