Hawks guard Trae Young returned Saturday, but he was clearly limited by injuries that forced him to miss the previous two games, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Young played 40 minutes, but didn’t have his usual explosiveness as he shot 4 of 17 from the field and scored 14 points.
He was still feeling the effects of a bone bruise in his right foot and a sprained right ankle that happened during Game 3. Saturday marked the first time he had stepped onto a court since the injury, other than testing it before Games 4 and 5. Young told reporters the bruise was in his heel and it affected him when he tried to get to the rim for a floater or a layup.
“Not being able to be out there for my team for two games, and then tonight just wanting to battle and try to fight through it as much as I could and try to be out there for my team, it’s definitely frustrating not being healthy and not being able to give my full 100 percent,” Young said.
There’s more from Atlanta:
- One of the first orders of business for the offseason will be to negotiate a long-term deal with coach Nate McMillan, Bontemps adds. McMillan took over the Hawks in March when they were stuck in 11th place in the East and led them to the brink of the NBA Finals. “I don’t see interim on his label here soon,” Young said. “In my mind, I don’t think that will be a case that much longer.”
- Cam Reddish had a star-making performance in Saturday’s loss, observes Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Playing in just his third game since returning from Achilles soreness that had sidelined him since February, Reddish scored 21 points and hit six of his seven three-point attempts. Kirschner notes that Reddish didn’t have a good relationship with former coach Lloyd Pierce, and many in the organization think he has the potential to be the team’s best player. “I really took to Cam when I first got here,” McMillan said. “He was a kid that I talked to early and was really wanting to coach him. I see a lot of Paul George in Cam — his length, his ability to defend.”
- Bogdan Bogdanovic, who was a restricted free agent last offseason, said the Kings told him they would match any offer and they saw his value as $15MM to $17MM a year, according to Kirschner. He wound up getting $18MM from Atlanta and said he had no desire to return to Sacramento, calling it disrespectful that the Kings worked out a sign-and-trade with the Bucks without telling him. “I remember talking with (coach) Luke (Walton) and (general manager) Monte (McNair), and they both told me how they wanted me,” Bogdanovic said. “I said, ‘OK, fine.’ They said they were going to wait for my offer because they couldn’t make a deal before going to the market. I’m talking with my guys from (Sacramento) and I wasn’t even looking at free agency. … I was in Serbia and no one reached out to me. No one talked with me. No one asked me anything. I woke up, I saw it and then I didn’t know what to do. I called my agent and he told me to calm down because there was nothing they could do because I was a restricted free agent and they couldn’t do anything like that.”
Lloyd Price never lost a game as coach.
but he did lose 120 of them as a head coach.
You saw that too.
Mark’s brother?
I believe the rumor that Nate hasn’t had the interim label removed already is due to the fact he isn’t sure he wants to be a head coach again. I think there is something to that.
It’s all coming down to money
Lol, I’m sure he’d rather go to Orlando or Washington. Atlanta is the best situation for him, he’s not going anywhere.
Big fan of Cam. But he is streaky that’s the knock. Needs to work on consistency.
Hawks have a lot of good young talent. Money will break up the roster tho. They spent too much on Gallo and Bogdan.
I don’t think Gallo is long term with them. Bogdan I’d agree but restricted free agent contracts usually are overpaid.
It’s only one more year for Gallo but it prevents them from doing much this off-season. Only 5 M guaranteed in the final year. Problem is they need to make a big move this off-season or the roster won’t change much. Have to pay Collins Trae and Huerter.
The Hawks do not to change much, they can make small improvements and focus on development. Clearly Huerter Collins Reddish not to mention Young and others all have room to grow so they cut any fat they can and continue adding where they need to and they should be a playoff contender for years.
Does money ever really break up a roster? Golden State is paying 4 guys over 120 million. Brooklyn is paying 3 guys 100 million. Clippers, Lakers, 76ers…the CBA allows you to pay your guys. Ressler has deep pockets, the Hawks can finally pay top dollar and will go into the luxury if necessary. But it’s not. Huerter isn’t getting a big deal and might be moved in a package for a better backcourt partner for Trae. Cam, Hunter, and Okongwu are on rookie deals still. Hill and Snell will be gone, that’s a good chunk of money there. Dunn could be traded since he’s on an expiring contract. Gallo I believe is on a 3 year deal and you have to have him next year. But he is definitely tradeable if you have to move him. They’re going to bring someone in to upgrade the 2, a backup pg if Goodwin doesn’t get right, and maybe another big. After next year they’ll look to deal some guys. But Bogdonovich isn’t going anywhere. No way he’s overpaid. Look at your Philly roster if you wanna see guys that are overpaid.
Gallo was a two year deal his third season only guaranteed for 5 mill so its tradeable. Hawks honestly in good shape. If the young guys show out then bogi’s deal is movable. Only question is John’s deal this summer. Prolly a strong sign and trade offer coming if someone Jack’s up the price .
Gallinari can be traded, no problem. Cam is a guy you gotta watch. If he really is that. I definitely keep him and coach him. You can move Bogdanovic and Gallinari. Plenty of teams would want them. Always like Bogdanovic on Knicks. If he’s saying that about his old team Kings. Tells you what a mess they are. I don’t get how a team can be so diss functional fo so long. Kings are a mess.
Collins deal is the issue. Atlanta does not have to make a deal to win next year. They have young talent that will get better. Hunter Reddish and Huerter. Hawks will be just fine.
Nate definitely should’ve started Cam as soon as he was healthy enough to start. Kev is a big time player & showed it vs Philly but Cam is light yrs better defensively & we needed that vs Jrue & Khris. Dre gettin hurt again & Trae gettin hurt vs Milwaukee definitely killed us but this is definitely the next nba dynasty. Im seeing absolutely horrible takes about the Hawks having salary cap issues & it just goes to show how ignorant the vast majority of these guys are about this franchise & the NBA in general tbh. Hawks are gonna have $15M-$22M in cap room no matter what this summer. If we can dump Gallo’s contract we could have enough spa to sign a max guy. Bogdan is clearly not going anywhere. He’s underpaid if anything. Atl doesn’t often attract quality free agents that have options. Gettin Bogdan last summer was a coup & it would stupid asf to trade him after he just had a great season & more than lived up to his contract. He’s making $18M/yr & we have him locked up for basically his whole prime. Extending Trae with a max deal this summer is a given but remember that deal won’t kick in until after next season. We have around $20M in cap space, we have the #20 & #48 overall picks in this month’s draft, we have arguably the best & deepest group of young talent in the entire league, we can easily resign key vets like Lou Williams, Tony Snell, Solomon Hill if we want to, we can easily resign young emerging talents like Skylar Mays, Nathan Knight & Brandon Goodwin if we want, we have 1 of the best head coaches & 1 of the best GMs in the league. Its just crazy how people still fail to understand what they’re watching even when its extremely obvious
That’s $20m under the cap before dealing with Collins. Oh forgot about him didn’t you. “Dumping” Gallo means taking on more salary. I doubt if LouW wants to back up Trae again… it’s not all about what “we” want.
How can you be trusted to say what’s what if you leave out info that does not support your narrative?
Your intelligence seems to require making a series of unsubstantiated proclamations and insulting other posters en masse.
Lol.. definitely/obviously didn’t forget about John, didn’t forget that his cap hold is low, allowing “us” to have so much cap space in the 1st place, cap space that we can offer to Duncan Robinson on a 3yr contract, then re-sign John Collins using his bird rights… dumping Gallo means trading Gallo & a future 1st to a team with cap space & getting $20M more in cap space. We’d obv only do that if someone like Kawhi agreed to come, but the main point is we have as much flexibility as we need/want this summer. Lou may or may not wanna come back. He’s an Atl legend either way & has been a Atl legend for well over a decade now. Hawks will be good at the pg position with or without Lou tho. Another Atl guy like Sharife Cooper would be perfect for the Hawks at #20 in the draft & even if that doesn’t happen we already have guys like Goodwin, Dunn & Mays that should be able to handle the backup duties behind Trae. As far as the 2nd part of your comment lol wtf are u talkin about?
Good trade?
Luka for Young and Reddish
Mags are not looking t
Mavs are not going to trade Luka. He’s a generational type of player.
They already traded Young for Luka once… Not happening again.
Bogdan’s description does not really clear the story up. But to be clear, his frustration was with the Kings, not the Bucks. In theory notification would still be the job of the Kings, no? The Bucks would be increasing the possibility of a leak by doing so, and this was occurring before the opening date of free agency, as important dealings must nowadays.
Espn does not say who leaked. But they did know it occurred before the “legal” date so they were getting someone in trouble. This is why snitches get no respect. Nobody was helped by the report, but events were impacted. Bogdan plays for the Hawks now, not the Bucks, because espn had to be first with a meaningless story, forcing the league office to act.
Be great if someone tells me I’m wrong and explain why.
Sorry x%sure… I wish I could say you wrong, but as more often than not, you right!
I hate that the media feels needs to be first & asap with all the news, wish they would take their time, I like living my life at the slowest pace possible, no need for speed myself!
But you right there if ESPN hadn’t messed with the story Brickdanovic would have been playin’ in MIL, now in the Finals & all concerned would have been happier!