The Atlanta Hawks made plenty of savvy moves this offseason to push themselves into Eastern Conference contender status this summer. Yet, the most important question about their future remains unanswered: what will happen to Trae Young?
Young is officially extension-eligible as of August 2. His counterparts like Luka Doncic and De'Aaron Fox immediately received maximum contract extensions. Hawks star point guard understandably wants a similar treatment from Atlanta. As of now, however, the Hawks front office hasn't extended him an offer, making Young frustrated, per ESPN reporter Marc Spears.
Trae Young Growing Frustrated With the Hawks in Contract Talks
In his appearance on ESPN's NBA Today on Tuesday, Spears revealed that he has been hearing about Young's frustrations about the situation.
"What I'm hearing now, at this point— you can tell by Trae's Tweet, and I saw him during the Finals— I think he's disappointed that it hasn't come, it hasn't been offered."Marc Spears, ESPN
Young has previously posted about Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons' contract negotiations, telling him to "get what [he] deserves" and that teams should be paying their stars early. This was seen as a message to the Hawks at the time, but Atlanta doesn't seem to be budging on their stance.
The 26-year-old All-Star is eligible to sign a four-year, $229 million deal, the exact same one Fox just signed in San Antonio. If the Hawks hold firm, Young will enter the 2025-26 season on an expiring contract. He has a player option for $48.9 million for the 2026-27 season, but barring injuries, he will almost certainly turn that down to land a more lucrative, longer-term deal.
While Young's disappointment is understandable, the Hawks have a good reason to wait things out. If the team doesn't take a step forward as they hoped, Atlanta would like to keep their flexibility so that it can pivot. Kristaps Porzingis is also on an expiring contract, and if things don't go according to plan, the Hawks could move on from both stars and start a rebuild.