Trae Young is set to enter a critical year of his NBA career next season.
Since being drafted in 2018, Trae Young has achieved many personal successes and helped the Atlanta Hawks advance to the conference finals.
However, the past few years have not worked out for Young and his team. They have not yet passed their first round since running to the 2021 conference final.
This has made the front office some big moves in the offseason, adding players like Kristaps Porzingis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the free agency.
Many say the Hawks are one of the teams they’ll be careful about next season, but their success depends on Young.
He has been able to put great numbers in recent years, but many questions have been asked about Young’s leadership, and Vincent Goodwill believes that next year will be its ultimate test.
The Hawks have not had the depth to compete since Young was on the roster, but as they enter next season, the team is more confident about the players they have.
Both Porzingis and Alexander-Walker are names that add more to the teams on both ends of the floor. Teaming up with Young will be the tough side to win next season.
However, Noren believes Young must play ball-off bulbketball, which could open up more paths for his team.
He states:
“We’re going to watch now, we can’t necessarily play winning basketball, we can lead to that matter.
“Can you lead? Can you make sacrifices? That’s not just an assist, but sometimes people say, ‘Well, his assistance is happening, so he’s going to sacrifice.
Young averaged 11.6 APG last season, the most of his career. Goodwill believes it won’t help the Hawks in just next season.
“Assist means you have to be a feeder to everyone, and you can become a decoy that your defense has to be careful about because you are not necessarily able to feed yourself and you are moving without the ball, and you are one of the greatest shooters on the planet, so defense has to explain you,” Goodwill added.
This can be argued that the Hawks are the best team they’ve had in recent years along with some quality two-way players.
Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson made a massive leap last year, indicating that the Hawks are set to promote.
| season | point | assist |
| 2024-25 | 24.2 | 11.6 |
| 2023-24 | 25.7 | 10.8 |
| 2022-23 | 26.2 | 10.2 |
Young is quickly qualified to expand and as a player who has been involved in many trade consultations, it will be interesting to see what he signs.
Kendrick Perkins praised the Hawks’ moves made at free agency and gave him a top three nod in the East.
There’s no doubt that the Hawks have great players, but they just take them with them as long as they’re young.
His ability to score and play is always what drives the Hawks’ success. Over the past few years, much of the offense has been dependent on him, but with the players they added, Young now has a lot of support.
Luke Kennard, Porzingis and Alexander Walker are players who can shoot the ball well. This is why we can expect a change in the Hawks’ playing style.
However, there’s no doubt that Young will continue his normal game and help the Hawks noise in the east.