After averaging 26.4 points in 36.5 minutes per game during his first 51 contests this season, Hawks guard Trae Young scored 15.0 PPG while playing 26.6 MPG in three games last week upon returning from hand surgery. Having gotten a few appearances under his belt down the stretch, Young is hoping to see his usual playing time – and provide his usual production – in Wednesday’s play-in game vs. Chicago, according to Charles Odum of The Associated Press.
“I feel a lot better,” Young told reporters after practicing on Monday. “I’m just trying to make sure I can play at least close to my minutes that I played in the regular season in play-in games.”
Young logged fewer than 21 minutes last Wednesday in his first game back, but bumped that figure to 27 minutes on Friday and nearly 32 in Sunday’s regular season finale. As long as he can handle the increased workload, the Hawks figure to lean heavily on him, since they’ll be missing key rotation players like Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Saddiq Bey due to injuries. Even on the road, without those teammates available, Young feels good about Atlanta’s chances.
“Obviously you just play the cards you’re dealt,” Young said. “… That’s just my mentality. You know I feel like we can still win with the players we have, so I’m going to go out there and try to do it.”
Here’s more on Young:
- Echoing previous reporting, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report says that many sources around the NBA believe Young will be traded this summer, though he cautions that the diminutive, offense-first guard wouldn’t be an ideal fit on some rosters. “It’s difficult to win with a player like Trae,” one Eastern Conference executive said to Pincus. “He needs to be the best player on your team, but he’s not at that top-tier level.”
- Pincus runs through a few potential landing spots for Young, considering what trades to the Lakers, Spurs, or Nets might look like. Pincus suggests that it’s tricky to find many other clear fits, though he identifies the Pistons as a possible wild card. Keeping Young and trading Dejounte Murray may ultimately make more sense for Atlanta, Pincus writes, since Murray would be more popular on the trade market due to his less pricey contract and his two-way ability.
- Although the Spurs need a long-term answer at point guard and have been linked to Young since February’s trade deadline, Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News advises not betting on a deal that sends Trae to San Antonio. “There are a lot of different ways this can go, and a lot of different stars (the Spurs) might end up targeting, but they’re not going to be the team that meets Atlanta’s price for Trae Young,” Finger writes in a tweet.
Spurs would go after Murray before they look to acquire Young. Young is not a Pops type player.
Spurs LOVE Murray…
Pop would only go for Trae if they wanted to tank…
Trae ain’t winning no team anything in the West…
Trae to Spurs, assets to Minny (say, Collins, Graham and picks), KAT to Atlanta. Done and done.
I had no idea Spurs were up against the cap this coming year. I thought they were way below it and could absorb a star without dumping salary. But no.
They are actually $50 million under the Luxury Tax threshold.
Yeah but up against the actual cap, meaning they cannot absorb outside salary.
Nope
Tonight could be the last time Trae suits up for the Hawks (it won’t be, we’ll beat Chi). If so I’ll be extremely grateful for being able to watch him lead our team for so long. It’s hard to overstate how exciting this guy is to watch. To see a guy as small as him put so much pressure on opposing defenses is so reminiscent of Iverson. Obviously we should have kept Luka instead of trading for Trae but it is what it is. I’m sure we’re gonna get a very nice return on our investment when we trade him this summer. Brooklyn, Det, SA, LAL & NO are all spots that would make a lot of sense for Trae. Phx, Min, Tor, Utah & others would also love to have him & could be considered dark horses. Spurs & Pels should prob be the highest bidders tho bc they have a strong need for a guy like Trae & they also have the assets that would appeal to the Hawks
Probably the game that really sold me on Trae as our franchise player. Bulls weren’t a good team at this time & neither was the Hawks but this game was incredible to watch, largely bc of Trae vs Zach… link to m.youtube.com
Trae Young steps up & plays his best in the biggest games. This has been a strong trend in his career since he was a high schooler. Its a trip how nobody ever mentions that when speaking about his game. He’s 3-0 in play-in games & this was maybe his best play-in performance. Clint Capela went down with an injury near halftime. Trae saw that as an opportunity to turn up. The result was the Cavs being eliminated on the home floor… link to m.youtube.com
Trae just ran right thru the Knicks in his 1st playoff action a few yrs ago & tbh NY really brought this on themselves. This was just Trae at his best. He was so good during this postseason run that he literally forced the league to change its rules. Some real Alcindor type stuff in 2019, thank you Trae… link to m.youtube.com
I wasn’t a Trae Young fan at all when he was at OU. His talent was obvious but he was so hyped by ESPN that it turned me off. I distinctly remember taking off work to watch the Thursday NCAA tourney games (like I do almost every yr) in 2018. Trae was headlining the 1st game of the tournament vs a URI team with a strong, balanced backcourt & I was rooting against him the whole game. By OT I was rooting for OU simply bc I wanted to see Trae continue to play in the tournament. URI played a helluva game & got the W but omg Trae was insane in this, his final collegiate game… link to m.youtube.com
He isn’t dead bro. No need to get this emotional.
Probably his best game of this season. Slicing & dicing the Suns defense like the late OJ Simpson himself. This was during our best stretch of the season. About a week later he’d be hurt & out for a month smh. Hopefully they can recapture some of the chemistry & momentum they had built up to that point. Chicago & Miami are both very winnable games for us, even on the road & tbh Boston is a pretty good matchup for us, even without so much of our front line… link to m.youtube.com
Ok.
Murray is more popular on the trade market for a reason. One ATL might want to consider when deciding which one to trade. I find it hard to believe that any team would give up that much of value for TY considering his contract, but there are worse contracts out there that ATL might absorb to increase the haul. ATL, at the end of the day, should trade him this off season at whatever the market yields, even if it’s mostly salary relief.
Dejounte isn’t more popular on the trade market lol what would even make you think/say that? You find it hard to believe that any NBA team would give up much value for future HOFer Trae Young, one of the very best pgs in the world? The stuff y’all say truly boggles my mind lol. If you can’t see that Trae Young is an elite pg & that elite pgs are valuable in the NBA then you may wanna step back & watch the game in a different way fr
You mean I should watch the game as a fanboy, as opposed a critic of the sport? No thanks. FWIW, fanboys do on occassion evolve into critics, but critics rarely (absent an onset of mental illness) become fanboys. Until either, we’ll just have to follow the sport in our different ways.
In any event, fans of all types, should understand at least the following, whether they like it or not. Teams don’t (really) trade, or trade for, players. They trade, and trade for, contracts. Even if, and its a big if, TY one day gets voted into the HOF, then he wouldn’t be the first player to make it who, at various points in his career, operated under a contract that had little to no trade value, or, more relevant here, depressed trade value. Another thing you should understand is, right or wrong, the people who determine trade value in the league (at least the ones that stay employed) think far more like me than they do like you.
Lol I’m not the type to use a term like fanboy but overall yes, you definitely should watch the game as a fan moreso than a critic. It’s extremely weird to me that that would even be a question lol. Basketball is a beautiful game & the NBA is a collection of the very best basketball players in the world. Enjoy that. If you know basketball like I do you understand that there’s so much variety in this game, so many different sides of the game, different levels, different styles of play. There’s a lot to enjoy about this game. Don’t be a hater. Lol I mean that just goes for life in general. Try to be less negative & more encouraging to your fellow man. With basketball it should come easy fr. We all have played this game. Majority of us love(d) playing basketball. If you’ve taken the game seriously as a basketball player it just feels natural to have a high respect for the guys/girls that are so good at this game (that we’ve all tried to play), they make it to a D1 school. And for the greats that make it all the way to the pros & even star & become legends, it’s just so crazy to see those guys constantly hated on & vilified & disrespected by these ppl that claim to know & love the game smh.
As far as Trae Young’s value in the league, smh, he’s a guy that would be a max player on dam near every team in the league. Trae Young is not new to any of us lol we should all know his worth by now. I consider myself a HUGE critic of this guy tbh. I have never been a big Trae fan fr. I was heartbroken when we traded Luka for him. I have just always preferred bigger, more versatile pgs & that’s still to this day my main reason for wanting us to go in a different direction at pg. That being said it is extremely clear how great this boy is. Numerous teams are gonna offer a lot for him on the trade market for obv reasons.
Lmao you’ve finally got on board the train everyone else on this site has been on for months, but in true Stankara fashion it has to come with a self wallowing and dramatic essay about how actually the Hawks players are better than anyone in the league and the haul for Young is going to be the biggest we’ve ever seen and how actually you watch basketball and connect with it on a level nobody else can comprehend.
You can take the kid out of the theater but you can’t take the theater out of the kid.
what’s this guy talking about lol
A critic is a fan! Just more a fan of the sport itself, than the people who happen to play it. The term does not inherently suggest negativity, but an approach based upon a critical (rational) mind.
To switch genres, a music critic and a groupie have very different perspectives on music, but it would be presumptuous to assume one is more or less a fan of music, or enjoys it more or less than the other.
Murray was shopped and never moved. He was popular but over priced. Prefer to say teams liked but not ready for him.
Trae may have interest but hawks will find teams to be very cheap these days.
Lillard was highly desired but had a hard time getting gobert like offers.
Lillard deal did have some interesting players so it’s not all about picks.
Hawks didn’t move Murray to lakers as they had a preference in the players versus picks.
Fans think picks are what matters but in reality it’s the player package and how they fit for the future.
We will see chaos as I predict many teams to fall short post season of their goals. New cba will require teams to play smart and be cheaper
Trae is just hype from people who want another Steph… He just doesn’t effect the game the same way and is overpaid for a team to construct a winner around that player type…
Spurs are too smart to waste years on a Trae deal…
They want Wemby to succeed sooner rather than later…
He is probably worth the same as Beal.
Beal is an injury liability and has a NTC… Young is worth about 3 Beals
He is a negative on the defensive end. Yes his contract isn’t as terrible as Beal, but he still won’t be worth a lot of 1st round picks. The picks are going to be protected or swaps.
Atl needs to trade Trae.
He’s an all star, all nba level talent but he’s just not getting the results even tho he’s putting up the numbers. It’s been years and your turned the roster over completely aswell as tried new coaches.
Let DeJounte run point and start over from him and Jalen Johnson.
I’d start with Trae Young to Miami. Think they will be desperate after missing the playoffs. Jimmys getting old, Herro hasn’t taken the leap, and you need more shooting and offence. They have been chasing an all star level guard for a few seasons now.
Trae Young and AJ Griffin for Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, 2 unprotected first round picks, 2 picks swaps and 2 second round picks.
I’d then try do a Clint Capela for Kyle Kuzma deal with a pick swap this included being this years, 10th overall for the 26th pick.
Thus giving the Hawks a line up of
Murray Herro Kuzma Johnson Okungwu
Bogdanovic Robinson Hunter
Plus this years 26th overall pick and the haul of picks from Miami
Washington gets Capela and this year’s 10th overall for Kuzma and the 26th pick. Which goes great with them already having the second overall pick. They get a huge overhaul
Miami gets Trae and AJ for Herro, Duncan and a bunch of picks. But only 2 firsts. That’s great considering it clears you of Duncan’s deal aswell.
Now they have 3 stars to lead them plus keep the likes of Rozier, Jaquez, Jovic and so on.
@sankra is probably sleeping in this am after Trae and showing last night. You cannot win in the nba with a lead guard whom is the avg weight for a guy 5’6/5’7 not 6’1. Murray is the player to keep and it’s so obvious only a team mismanaged as Atlanta would not see it. Easy moves are trade Trae and Okungwu for picks. If someone will take hunter for a young big you take it. Draft a new crop of wings and guards. Priority on resigning JJ and you have a playoff team. Trade Murray and you continue to make dumb moves like giving up the rights to Luka for Trae.
The problem with the hawks is that they don’t have a play making center to go along with Young and Murray. They need someone that’s averaging close to or over 20 points a game along with rebounds. Capela isn’t that guy and they will never go far without that missing piece.