76ers Rival Watch: Trae Young's Future With Hawks in Question?

The future looked very bright for Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks when they made a surprising Eastern Conference Finals run just two postseasons ago. After upsetting the New York Knicks in the first round, the Hawks knocked the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers out in seven games during the second round.

While the Hawks came up short against the eventual champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, in the Eastern Conference Finals, it seemed evident that Atlanta was primed to remain a threat in the East, considering they were a young team that found success in the postseason.

The follow-up to the 2021 playoff run hasn’t mirrored that success, however. Last year, the Hawks needed to compete in the NBA Play-In Tournament to clinch a spot in the playoffs. After grabbing the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed, Young and the Hawks came up short against the Miami Heat in the first round, losing in five games.

This season, the Hawks are in a similar position. After wrapping up the 2022-2023 season with a 41-41 record, the Hawks finished in eighth place. They’ll compete against the Heat on Tuesday night for the seventh seed.

As the first Play-In game of the season approaches, reports are beginning to cause speculation about Trae Young’s future in Atlanta.

On Tuesday afternoon, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Hawks are “closely monitoring” Young’s day-to-day commitments within the Hawks’ organization.

“When the Hawks brought in Quinn Snyder, the big question was how would his relationship with Trae Young be, and I’m told both of them have developed a pretty solid relationship. Both have genuine respect for each other but I’m told the Hawks are continuing to closely monitor Trae Young’s day to day commitments and habits on a day to day basis on the floor and off the floor and what Trae Young is willing to do to be a leader, what it takes to be a leader. Clearly, there’s been continued question marks around thw organization as far as Trae Young, an unbelievable player on the floor. The one thing that is of note is his agent is Rich Paul. That's someone that we know the expectation is going to be there. There will be conversations, I think between Trae Young’s camp, and the Hawks and their ownership as far as what direction the Hawks are going into into the future.”

Reporting on Trae Young's future in Atlanta and conversations that could take place in offseason: pic.twitter.com/m91nXA3vPD
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 11, 2023

Since landing in Atlanta as the fifth-overall pick via the 2018 NBA Draft, Young quickly emerged as one of the NBA’s best young scorers. During his rookie season, Young averaged 19 points as a full-time starter. Since the 2018-2019 season, Young has averaged 26 points throughout his career.

As a two-time All-Star at age 24, Young would have a crowded market of suitors if the Hawks added him to the trade block.

While it seems Atlanta hasn’t reached that point quite yet, missing the playoffs this year could leave Atlanta with no choice but to consider re-tooling the franchise’s roster, with the idea of potentially moving its current face of the franchise.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.