After making the play-in tournament but failing to make the playoffs last season, the Atlanta Hawks need to figure out how to get over the hump during the 2025-26 season. Atlanta has been the epitome of mediocre since the turn of the decade, as they’ve won 40 games in four of the past five years but never more than 43 games in each of those seasons.
While that stretch includes some bad luck after the Hawks’ 41-31 squad had their regular season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, they haven’t gotten out of the first round since that season and just once since reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals during the 2015-16 campaign.
The Hawks need someone to carry them out of the malaise, but their highest-paid player may be what’s holding them back.
Trae Young Needs to Finally Rise to the Hawks’ Expectations
Trae Young is the face of the Hawks, and that might not be a good thing considering their recent performance. While the soon-to-be 27-year-old is a four-time All-Star and finished fourth in the Comeback Player of the Year voting a year ago, Young’s superstar status hasn’t helped Atlanta make a deep run in the playoffs.
Young is set to make $45.9 million next season and has a player option worth $48.9 million for the 2026-27 season. While that deal could keep Young in Atlanta for the next two years, players typically opt out to maximize their earnings, and he could be in line for another big contract worth five years and $345 million.
The Hawks could nip this situation in the bud by signing Young to an extension now. But NBA analyst Zach Lowe hinted that Atlanta could allow Young to become an unrestricted free agent next summer and it’s easy to understand why they have some hesitation.
Young is one of the NBA’s elite scorers and is averaging 25.3 points per game during his career. But he also had one of the worst shooting seasons for the Hawks with .411/.340/.875 splits in 76 games last season. It’s possible that Young needs a solid supporting cast to reach his potential for team success, but you have to question whether the additions of Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Luke Kennard are enough.
Even if Young elevates his game, he could find himself in the same situation Luka Doncic was in before he was traded by the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers last February. It creates an important situation with a lot of money on the line, and it could leave the Hawks getting robbed blind next season.