Trae Young Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Magic, Houstan, Young, Kuzma

December 24th, 2022 at 7:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic are in the midst of their best nine-game stretch in more than a decade, but there’s no single reason why it’s happening, writes Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando has moved into the race for the play-in tournament by winning eight of its last nine games, and head coach Jamahl Mosley believes everything he’s been trying to teach his young players over the past two seasons is taking hold.

“We’ve been saying it from the beginning: understanding we’re close (and) getting over the hump,” Mosley said. “You just have to stick with that process. The growth, understanding those close games and what those mean later on in the season. It’s just the belief system these young men are starting to grow into.”

The Magic own the NBA’s second-best rating in clutch situations and have started winning tight games that they couldn’t close out earlier in the season. Orlando is also among the league’s top seven teams in both offensive and defensive rating during the last two and a half weeks.

“As a young team, sometimes we can get caught up in ‘Oh, we won a certain amount of games. Let’s get comfortable,’” said Wendell Carter Jr., who returned to the lineup Friday after missing more than a month. “I feel like the biggest thing for us is to continue to do what got us here. Not to change the formula or too many things. Just do what got us to this point.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Magic have considered sending Caleb Houstan to the G League to get more playing time, tweets Aaron Goldstone of Orlando Pinstriped Post. The rookie small forward has appeared in 22 of the team’s 34 games.
Trae Young‘s father responded to a recent article by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report speculating about Young’s future in Atlanta and a tweet by Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer suggesting the Hawks guard isn’t willing to play off the ball alongside Dejounte Murray. “Although I like Kevin’s stuff, now there’ll be articles on Trae like this just because ‘rival execs’ believe something!” Ray Young tweeted. “Trae doesn’t talk to other teams. He’s busy trying to win in Atlanta. Will this ever end?”
With their roster almost fully healthy, the Wizards understand they have to start producing to prevent a shakeup at the trade deadline, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “It’s tough for you to make decisions without a healthy team, and we’ve got to make up some ground,” Kyle Kuzma said. “We’ve been injured a lot, but we’ve got a chance to rewrite some things. The trade deadline is in six weeks, and everyone in this locker room knows about that.”

Haynes’ Latest: Young, DeRozan, Clarkson, Wood, Winslow, GPII

December 22nd, 2022 at 12:58pm CST by Rory Maher

Rival executives believe Trae Young could be the next star player to make a trade request if the Hawks don’t “make inroads” in the playoffs, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

After reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020/21 as the No. 5 seed, Atlanta was eliminated by Miami in the first round of last year’s playoffs as the No. 8 seed. Haynes writes that Young encouraged Atlanta’s front office to deal for guard Dejounte Murray in the offseason, but their partnership has been a little shaky thus far, with the Hawks currently sitting with a 16-16 record, the No. 9 seed in the East.

Young is under contract through at least 2025/26 (he has a player option in ’26/27) after signing a maximum-salary rookie scale extension in the 2021 offseason, so he seemingly wouldn’t have much leverage if he does request a trade down the line. It also wouldn’t exactly be a good look from an optics standpoint considering he pushed for the Murray acquisition.

The Hawks recently made a major change to the top of their basketball operations department, with former president Travis Schlenk moving into a role as a senior advisor, and GM Landry Fields taking his place as the head of basketball operations. A source tells Haynes that Fields meets with the team’s star point guard regularly and the two have a “great relationship.”

Rival teams are keeping a close eye on Atlanta’s situation, particularly with the rumored tension between Young and head coach Nate McMillan. Haynes states that Fields has ownership’s green light to upgrade the roster, but thus far hasn’t found any takers for forward John Collins.

Here’s more from Haynes:

Another star player rival executives believe could request a trade in the offseason is DeMar DeRozan, who will earn $28.6MM next season in the final year of his contract. Like the Hawks, the Bulls have dealt with their own on-court dysfunction, currently sitting with a 13-18 record, the No. 11 seed in the East. The Bulls were the No. 6 seed last season after finishing 46-36 (they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Milwaukee), so they’d have to go 33-18 the rest of the way to just to match that mark, which seems improbable at the moment. Haynes says that playing on an expiring deal is a “non-starter for most high-caliber players” and suggests that DeRozan is likely to seek an extension or ask out if the Bulls don’t improve. However, he did just enter free agency in the 2021 offseason after playing on an expiring contract with San Antonio, and was notoriously loyal with Toronto, so it’s unclear if this is report is just speculation from Haynes (and rival teams) or something the five-time All-Star is actually considering.
League sources tell Haynes that Jordan Clarkson and his agents are engaged in contract extension talks with the Jazz. However, Haynes says it’s not a lock that a new deal gets signed and Clarkson might enter free agency instead, which would require him to turn down his $14.3MM player option for ’23/24. A couple of reporters wrote last month that Clarkson was more likely to be extended than traded by the Jazz.
The Mavericks haven’t made Christian Wood available in trade talks, but according to Haynes, some rival teams think that might change soon. Haynes notes that Wood is playing on a $14.3MM expiring deal and is eligible for a four-year, $77MM extension in a couple days, but his fit in Dallas hasn’t been what either side was hoping for. Wood’s points, rebounds and minutes are down from the past couple seasons, and he has only started four of 29 games, with head coach Jason Kidd citing defensive concerns as the reason for the big man’s somewhat reduced role.
Justise Winslow suffered a left ankle injury in Wednesday’s loss to the Thunder and is expected to undergo an MRI, sources tell Haynes. The Trail Blazers forward is an unrestricted free agent in 2023 and is a rotation regular for Portland. On the bright side, Blazers guard Gary Payton II hopes to make his season debut next week, per Haynes, which is in line with a report last week from Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Southeast Notes: Young, McMillan, Collins, Wright, Beal, Oladipo

December 21st, 2022 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Hawks guard Trae Young and head coach Nate McMillan both downplayed an alleged confrontation that occurred earlier this month, but there has been chatter that their relationship has gotten worse since then, according to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, who said one league executive referred to the situation in Atlanta as “toxic.”

“When they win, everybody’s happy for a minute,” one source told Bulpett. “But when they lose, it gets messy. Instead of trying to get it figured out, there’s a lot of blame being thrown around.”

According to Bulpett, one opposing coach said that Young and McMillan don’t like each other, and suggested that “other players have issues with Trae” as well.

“There were teams that questioned whether he’d ever be this good because of his size when he was coming out,” a front office source said of Young. “So it’s good to have that kind of fight in you. But at some point, you’d hope he’d realize the effect he can have on his team, both positive and negative. Sometimes you have to take a step back and maybe take a hit to make the whole thing work.”

Meanwhile, although John Collins‘ name has once again come up in trade rumors, sources who spoke to Bulpett pointed to the big man’s contract as a potential roadblock as the Hawks seek a trade partner. He’s still owed $78.5MM across three seasons after this one.

“He’s not a bad player. He’s actually a good player,” a source told Bulpett. “The problem is he’s not worth 23-and-a-half million. There are places he could go where he’d really be helping a team and really be happy, but right now that contract is in the way. We’ll see if anyone’s going to bite or if Atlanta’s going to make it worth another team’s while.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Asked on Tuesday if there’s a chance Delon Wright will return to action for the Wizards on Thursday, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. responded, “I hope so,” tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Wright has been on the shelf for nearly two months, but finally seems on the verge of being reactivated.
In a story for The Athletic, Robbins and Jovan Buha explore whether it’s realistic to think the Wizards and Lakers could work out a trade that sends Bradley Beal to Los Angeles for Russell Westbrook and draft picks. Robbins is skeptical, but points out that Beal’s no-trade clause will make it challenging for the Wizards to maximize the guard’s value if he ever wants to be dealt, since he could veto deals to unwanted destinations.
With several Heat regulars unavailable, Victor Oladipo made his first start of the year and played a season-high 34 minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Chicago. As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays, head coach Erik Spoelstra made it clear after the game that he doesn’t intend to lean that heavily on Oladipo often as he continues to work his way back to 100%. “I wouldn’t have done this with Vic if it wasn’t clearly communicated with him and with the training staff and if we didn’t have two days after the last game, two days before the next game,” Spoelstra said.

Eastern Notes: Horford, Young, Heat, Duarte, Brown

December 12th, 2022 at 10:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics veteran big man Al Horford will rejoin the team on Friday, Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets. Horford has been away from the C’s for personal reasons following a stint in the league’s health and safety protocols. Horford, who signed a two-year extension at the beginning of the month, hasn’t played since Dec. 4.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

Hawks star guard Trae Young has been fined $25K for throwing the game ball into the spectator stands, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com tweets. The incident occurred at the end of the Hawks’ 123-122 overtime win over the Bulls on Sunday. Young was inactive against Memphis on Monday.
The struggles of Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Duncan Robinson have taken some of the shine off the Heat’s vaunted development program but all is not lost, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Caleb Martin has developed from a two-way prospect to a steady rotation player and the development program has other potential success stories in Omer Yurtseven, Nikola Jovic and Jamal Cain.
Pacers wing Chris Duarte joined the G League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants for practice on Monday and he’ll play for Fort Wayne against the Wisconsin Herd on Wednesday and Friday, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. Duarte is working his way back from a Grade 2 ankle sprain suffered in early November.
Pacers rookie forward Kendall Brown is out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his right tibia, according to Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. Brown will be reevaluated by the team in two weeks. Brown, a second-round pick, is one of the team’s two-way players. He’s appeared in six games with the Pacers.

Community Shootaround: Atlanta Hawks

December 9th, 2022 at 9:03pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hawks made a major trade in the offseason, dealing away unprotected first-round picks in 2025 and 2027, a first-round pick swap in 2026, and Charlotte’s 2023 protected first-rounder to acquire All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray from the Spurs. Atlanta started the season strong, winning seven of 10 games, but has gone just 6-10 since and now sits at .500 (13-13).

A second trade received fewer headlines, but it was still significant, because they moved off Kevin Huerter‘s contract in order to dip under the luxury tax, and he was an important floor-spacer and ball-mover for Atlanta. The main player they received in return, Justin Holiday, has not been very effective, while Huerter is having a career year for the Kings.

As ESPN’s Zach Lowe noted in his “10 Things” column today (Insider link), the fit between Murray and star point guard Trae Young has been a little shaky thus far. Young opened the season actively moving without the ball, which is key with two ball-dominant players sharing the floor, but has basically abandoned it since. Lowe believes “something is off with the Hawks,” and there’s a chance that their season “could teeter into instability.”

As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, the Hawks’ record doesn’t look too far off external expectations, but he also thinks “there is an impending sense that not all is well.” He lists several reasons for that, including Young’s reported tiff with head coach Nate McMillan last week and a worrisome shot profile (29th in 3PTA and 29th in 3PT%), among others.

According to Hollinger, perhaps the biggest factor in that “sense” has been Young’s poor start to the 2022/23 season. His counting stats look great — he’s averaging 27.5 points and 9.5 assists through 23 games. However, he’s shooting career lows of 47.0% on twos and 28.9% on threes, and until that changes, league observers will be keeping a close eye on the Hawks and what they might do at the trade deadline.

Entering Friday’s back-and-forth loss at Brooklyn, the Hawks ranked 21st in the league in offense, which a major drop-off — they were second last season. The defense has improved substantially, going from 26th up to 12th, but they still have a negative net rating (-1.0) despite being a .500 team.

With Murray expected to be sidelined for the next two weeks with a sprained ankle, and starting forwards De’Andre Hunter (hip) and John Collins (ankle) still sidelined, the spotlight will be on McMillan and Young to keep the Hawks afloat, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Amick notes that Murray did his part last week when Young and the two forwards were out against Denver, leading the team to a surprising victory with 34 points and eight assists. Amick makes the case that Murray has been more important to Atlanta’s success this season than Young, recording a +6.5 net rating versus Young’s +1.5.

Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s return to the lineup should help the shooting numbers stabilize and take some pressure off Young — he’s a career 38.2% marksman from deep on high volume, and has only played four games after offseason knee surgery. But there are still major depth question marks aside from the fit concerns, particularly at guard and forward.

This year’s first-round pick, wing AJ Griffin, has played well overall, but he’s only 19 years old and having a rookie as a key rotation piece is a little worrisome for a team hoping to contend. Last year’s first-rounder, forward Jalen Johnson, has looked pretty rough around the edges in his first real chances at extended playing time.

We want to know what you think. Are you concerned about the Hawks? Do you get the feeling that “something is off,” like Lowe and Hollinger? Or do you think they just need to get healthy and have more time to adjust? Is the roster good enough to contend as constructed? If changes are needed, what do you think they should do?

Head to the comments section and let us know what you think of the Hawks and their chances for the rest of the season.

Hawks’ Dejounte Murray Out Two Weeks With Left Ankle Sprain

December 8th, 2022 at 5:41pm CST by Rory Maher

5:41pm: The Hawks have officially announced Murray’s injury, confirming that he will miss at least two weeks (Twitter link).

2:13pm: Murray is expected to miss two weeks due to the injury, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).

12:40pm: Hawks guard Dejounte Murray will undergo an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the left ankle sprain (Twitter link) that caused him to exit yesterday’s loss in New York after only four minutes of action, tweets Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Fellow starting guard Trae Young missed Thursday’s practice with an illness, per Williams. The Hawks are waiting to see if he recovers in time to play in tomorrow’s game at Brooklyn.

Atlanta is already down two starters at the moment. Power forward John Collins out at least one more week with his own left ankle sprain, while small forward De’Andre Hunter is dealing with a right hip flexor strain.

Hunter was set to be reevaluated today and was a partial participant in practice, according to Williams (Twitter link). His status for Friday’s game is unclear.

The Hawks traded two unprotected first-round picks (2025 and 2027), an unprotected pick swap (2026), and Charlotte’s 2023 top-16 protected first-rounder to acquire Murray, a first-time All-Star last season with the Spurs. Through 25 games in 2022/23 (35.6 minutes), he’s averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals on .452/.366/.836 shooting for the 13-12 Hawks.

McMillan: I Never Told Trae To Not Show Up

December 5th, 2022 at 6:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hawks coach Nate McMillan denies he told star guard Trae Young not to show up for Friday’s game, according to Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

A report from The Athletic on Sunday stated that McMillan and Young had a disagreement prior to the team’s shootaround while Young was getting treatment for a shoulder injury. The report indicated that McMillan, unhappy Young didn’t participate in the shootaround, told Young he could either play off the bench that night or not show up to the arena. Young reportedly chose the latter, with the team officially ruling his absence against the Nuggets due to right shoulder soreness.

Prior to Monday’s game against Oklahoma City, McMillan disputed that account.

“The one thing that I do want to respond (to), there was something said about me, telling Trae to not show up for a game,” he said. “I will never ever, and have never ever told a player not to show up for a game. Okay, that’s just false.”

McMillan also expressed irritation that details of his disagreement with Young became public.

“There is something happening every single day that we have to address and manage and a situation happened, that is private. Okay, it’s private,” he said. “It’s no different than any other day for me, in our group and a story was leaked about that situation. You know, those are things that we don’t normally talk about or address. You know, things happen with our players on a bus, on the plane in the hotels. I mean, we’re together a lot. We’re family.”

McMillan said he and his star player and “moving forward” from the situation. Young is back in action against the Thunder.

“Trae is a very competitive kid,” McMillan said. “He understands. He understands. We both want the same thing and that is to win games. And, again, things are gonna happen. We’re not going to agree on everything. I mean, that happens in your family, too, right? There’s not the perfect situation. And he’s going to be fine. He’s a 24-year-old man that has a lot of talent. He wants to win big. I want to win big. And we’re going to continue to work on ways to try to make that happen.”

Young addressed the dispute earlier in the day and was also disappointed that the matter became public.

Trae Young Downplays Argument With Coach

December 5th, 2022 at 11:55am CST by Arthur Hill

Hawks guard Trae Young insists a story about a verbal altercation he had with coach Nate McMillan was overblown, tweets Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I mean, it was just a situation,” Young said Monday in his first public comments since the incident was reported (Twitter link). “I mean, we’re all grown men here. And there’s sometimes we don’t always agree. And it’s unfortunate that private situations and private conversations get out to the public. But I guess that’s what the world we live in now. But um, yeah, I’m just gonna just focus on basketball and focus on helping my team win. And that’s what I got to be focusing on.”

McMillan also downplayed the confrontation when he talked to the media on Sunday, saying it was a simple miscommunication.

Young had a disagreement with his coach on Friday that led to him sitting out that night’s game against the Nuggets. While Young was receiving treatment on his right shoulder, McMillan asked if he could participate in the pre-game shootaround, then get treatment during a walk-through in preparation to play. Young said he wanted to skip the shootaround and focus on his treatment, and then decide later if he would be available for the game.

McMillan wasn’t pleased that Young didn’t take part in the shootaround and reportedly told him not to come to the arena if he didn’t want to come off the bench. Young stayed away, and the Hawks said he was ruled out because of shoulder soreness.

The team didn’t take any disciplinary action against Young, and he’s expected to play tonight when Atlanta hosts Oklahoma City.

Young responded, “We’ll figure that out,” when Williams asked how he and McMillan will handle any future miscommunications (Twitter link).

In an appearance on Fan Duel TV (video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic called the dispute “a microcosm of the tension that’s existed” on the team. Charania adds that sources say McMillan’s job remains safe, so he and Young will have to work through their differences.

Hawks’ Trae Young Sat Out Friday After Tense Exchange With Coach Nate McMillan

December 4th, 2022 at 4:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tensions have risen between Hawks star guard Trae Young and coach Nate McMillan, highlighted by a disagreement on Friday that led to Young choosing not to play against Denver on Friday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Sam Amick report.

According to Charania and Amick, Young and McMillan had a verbal exchange during the Hawks’ shootaround prior to the game. As Young received treatment on his right shoulder, McMillan asked him whether he would participate in the shootaround, then receive treatment during the walk-through and play against the Nuggets. Young told McMillan he wanted to miss the shootaround to focus on his treatment and decide later on whether he could play.

McMillan was unhappy Young didn’t participate in the shootaround and told Young he could either play off the bench that night or not show up to the arena. Young chose the latter, with the team officially ruling his absence due to right shoulder soreness.

The team didn’t take any disciplinary action against its franchise player. Young practiced fully on Sunday and will play on Monday against the Thunder.

McMillan on Sunday told reporters that it was a simple miscommunication between him and Young.

However, this has hardly been the only issue regarding McMillan and his players this season, according to The Athletic duo. The Hawks have held multiple team meetings already to resolve various conflicts.

For now, McMillan’s job appears safe. He signed a four-year contract to become the franchise’s full-time head coach after leading the Hawks to the conference finals as an interim coach in 2021. Both Young and McMillan are cognizant of the fact they’ll need to improve their relationship in order for the franchise to become a serious contender again.

In the meantime, Young’s leadership is under scrutiny since he also played a role in Lloyd Pierce’s dismissal, which led to McMillan replacing him. Young is in the first year of a five-year max extension.

The Hawks are looking to make a significant trade to improve their prospects of making a run. They’ve been shopping forward John Collins, who is currently sidelined with an ankle sprain. The Nets are among the teams who have expressed interest.

Southeast Notes: Young, Bogdanovic, Porzingis, Oladipo

December 4th, 2022 at 3:05pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

All-Star point guard Trae Young, who missed the Hawks‘ 117-109 victory over the Nuggets on Friday with a sore shoulder, is back with the team after not being present even on the Atlanta bench or home arena, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscriber link).

“It was just miscommunication in that situation with Trae,” Hawks head coach Nate McMillan said, without offering further details. “Just as simple as that.”

Young and fellow All-Star guard Dejounte Murray have been a huge reason for the Hawks’ solid 13-10 start to the season. Through 21 healthy contests, the 6’1″ Young is averaging 27.8 PPG on .411/.303/.899 shooting splits, along with 9.6 APG, 2.9 RPG and 0.8 SPG.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

Hawks reserve guard Bogdan Bogdanovic appreciated the enthusiastic fan reception he received for his first game back from a knee surgery Friday, Williams writes in a separate piece (subscriber link). “I honestly think it was perfect because I didn’t expect (the reaction), honestly,” Bogdanovic noted. “When I was checking in, I was really calm, like I know what I’m going to do and what is my job, and I was ready. But then, I don’t know, I didn’t expect the ovations and the crowd going crazy… It made me nervous, honestly, like a little kid. That’s how I felt like the first two minutes and everyone’s trying to talk to me, I can’t hear nothing.” Though he scored a modest five points on Friday, the swingman certainly seems positive about his outlook going forward.
Wizards starting center Kristaps Porzingis has hired a new agent, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). Excel Sports agent Jeff Schwartz is the 7’3″ big man’s new rep, per Bondy. Porzingis, who has been enjoying a bounce-back season in his first full year with Washington, has a $36MM player option for 2023/24. Through 22 appearances, the 27-year-old is averaging 21.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.5 BPG while shooting .470/.364/.800 from the floor for the 11-12 Wizards.
Heat guard Victor Oladipo is nearing a return from his injured knee, though the timeline is still somewhat up in the air. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that Oladipo seems optimistic that he could return as soon as this week. “I feel good, been moving a lot more,” Oladipo said. “Just going to make sure it’s the right thing, the right decision collectively. I’m not going to make a decision by myself. Just going to make sure everything feels good and I can perform at the highest level.”