Trae Young’s extension saga captured the attention of Hawks fans for the majority of the offseason. After adding three key rotation players, including Kristaps Porzingis, the Atlanta Hawks finally had a team worthy of making a playoff run. Now, after signing Dyson Daniels to a long-term extension, the last remaining uncertainty is Young.
A breakup between the franchise and its star has never been in the cards in Atlanta. At no point have Young (outside of his advertising troll job) or the team suggested that they do not see a future together. In fact, recent reporting has indicated the Hawks have never shopped Young, contrary to previous rumors.
Instead, Young and the team have a disagreement on what his salary should be. Given the fact that extension negotiations broke down months ago, there was likely an ultimatum given by the team: perform to our standards and get paid, or struggle and take a pay cut.
If this is indeed the conversation behind the scenes, Ice Trae has not capitalized on the chance to bet on himself thus far. While he certainly isn’t the reason the Hawks are 1-3, he still has not played at a max contract level.
Young has to improve both for his and the team’s sake
Young has averaged 20.8 points, 9.5 assists, and 1.0 steals a night through the first four games of the season. While this is underwhelming, the real kicker is his shooting split: 36.4% from the field, 19.2% from three, and another well below-average two point percentage.
Of course, it would be ridiculous to sound the alarm after just four games of poor shooting. Young will recover to his previous levels, although it may take him time to play out of his slump. What is important, however, is that he has started the season on a cold streak when he needs to show improvement.
Young has no room for this level of inconsistency. Selfishly, Young would like the biggest payday he can negotiate. This slow start is certainly not helping his case for a raise, and could be a period the front office points to in future negotiations.
More importantly for the fans, the team cannot afford Young to play at this level. He hasn’t played poorly per se, but he hasn’t been the generational offensive engine this team was constructed to support. A masterful performance as a passer and creator was not enough to beat the Chicago Bulls, who are projected to finish considerably further down the standings than Atlanta. Young has to be scoring well enough to carry the team to victory for him to be worth the $57.25 million max.
Again, it isn’t time for anyone to panic, but this slow start from Young when both he and the team need him to take a step forward is a noteworthy development to monitor.