Southeast Notes: Young, Heat’s Expectations, Smith, Bogdanovic

The Hawks have already traded away Dejounte Murray. Is it possible they’d move his backcourt partner? That’s not likely, but he could be looking at a new contract next offseason.

Trae Young is entering the third year of a five-year max contract, which includes a player option. He’ll be eligible for an extension next summer. Right now, Young’s trade value isn’t as high as many might expect, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst in the latest Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Hoops Hype).

“I’m not sure that Trae Young’s value is as high as they’d like it to be. So this is a real pivotal year as you say for Trae Young,” Windhorst said. “Number one: after this season he can extend his contract and in the current environment first off we know that he’s on the ‘fun max’, we know the next contract is ‘stress max’ time. It’s been dubbed the ‘stress max’ because it affects both sides. Sometimes it’s the stress on the team whether they can get the player to sign and sometimes it’s stress on the player about whether he can get that second max.

“In this environment – where under the new rules, you’ve got to watch the dollars being spent, especially when you get to the 30 percent part of the max – Trae is going to have to have a big year, even if it’s to stay in Atlanta and sign a max deal.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Perhaps it’s time for the Heat to look at the upcoming season with somewhat reduced expectations compared to previous seasons, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. Avoiding the play-in tournament and winning at least one playoff series could rank as more reasonable goals than expecting to make a run to the Finals, given the current pecking order in the East, Winderman suggests.
  • Dru Smith currently holds one of the Heat‘s three tw0-way deals but there’s no assurances he’ll retain that contract, Winderman notes. Smith continues to recover from a knee injury and the team could create an open competition during training camp as they evaluate Smith’s status ahead of the Oct. 23 regular-season opener.
  • Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic believes Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic can play into his late 30s, Eurohoops.net relays from a Luka i Kuzma podcast. Rajakovic notes Bogdanovic is in excellent shape. “I think he can play in the NBA for another 6-7 years without any problems. I have a hard time preparing for the matches we will play against him,” Rajokovic said. “He always has a smile on his face, he enjoys playing basketball very much. I am his fan.”
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