Hawks’ Trae Young has perfect opportunity to show Atlanta he’s deserving of contract extension next season

The Atlanta Hawks have had one of the most impressive transaction windows this summer. They traded for Kristaps Porzingis, signed sharpshooter Luke Kennard away from the Memphis Grizzlies and acquired Nickiel Alexander-Walker to bolster their defense. Those moves — coupled with the budding trio we saw last season of Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher — will make the Hawks a formidable opponent in a weakened Eastern Conference. Oh, and then there’s franchise centerpiece Trae Young, who will be the glue holding this all together next season.

Young’s coming off his fourth All-Star season in which he averaged 24.2 points, led the league in assists at 11.6 a game and finished fourth in Clutch Player of the Year voting. Despite his impressive numbers, he rarely gets mentioned in the same conversations of a Luka Dončić or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. This summer, he’s had to sit and watch his contemporaries get lucrative contract extensions, as both Dončić and Gilgeous-Alexander signed multiyear deals that will pay them each north of $50 million a year, and in SGA’s case he’ll be raking in $75 million during the 2030-31 season. De’Aaron Fox also got an extension with the Spurs, a surprising fact given San Antonio’s suddenly loaded backcourt with reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and No. 2 overall draft pick Dylan Harper. Fox got a four-year extension that will pay him out around $61 million in the 2029-30 season, a high price tag for someone who may not even be in San Antonio for the entirety of that deal.

Young will be earning roughly $46 million next season, and has a player option for the 2026-27 season he’ll surely opt out of. However, while all the other guards around Young’s age are getting massive extensions, there’s been no word on a similar extension coming Young’s way. In fact, ESPN’s Marcus Spears reported on Aug. 5 that Young has been “disappointed” by the fact that an extension hasn’t gotten done, and Jake Fischer elaborated recently to say Young’s upset at the fact that the Hawks haven’t even broached the topic of an extension. Fischer also reports that there’s no plan for Young and the Hawks to discuss a contract extension this summer.

That may leave a bad taste in Young’s mouth, especially as all the other guards around him are getting big paydays. But this serves as the perfect opportunity for Young to prove to the Hawks next season that not only is he deserving of a contract extension, but he’s worth the full amount of guaranteed money he’s able to get — which could be a five-year, $350 million max extension if he earns All-NBA honors next season.

That’s certainly doable for Young, who has only made All-NBA once in his career, but he’ll undoubtedly have the best cast of characters around him next season to reach that goal. Having a two-man game with someone like Porzingis is something Young’s never had before in Atlanta. Porzingis can roll to the rim for lob dunks and pop out to the elbow for a mid-range jumper, or be the ultimate floor spacer, allowing Young the most amount of room to operate and either kick it out to him at the 3-point line or find his own shot.

While the Hawks haven’t experienced a ton of success since making the Eastern Conference finals in 2021, Young has quietly improved in every aspect of his game offensively. He’s been amongst the league’s best facilitators as evidenced from leading the league in assists this past season. His efficiency dipped last year, but he’s still a threat from practically everywhere on the floor. The dip in shooting numbers can also be attributed to the fact that Young took more of a facilitation role while trying to get other guys quality looks like Johnson and adding in rookie Risacher to the mix as well. And while Young averaged the most touches per game of his career last season (91.0 touches), his average seconds of holding onto the ball per touch is the lowest (5.52 seconds) since his rookie season (5.49 seconds).

But with the new roster additions and another full season with Johnson, Daniels and Risacher, Young will be looked to as the head of the snake more than ever before. In the past, there have been valid reasons why the Hawks can’t make deep runs in the postseason. Either the supporting cast around Young was subpar, the coaching was an issue, the defense was too porous or there were just simply too many better teams in the East. But as my colleague Brad Botkin wrote in July, Young is out of excuses to make this work in Atlanta. He’s got the perfect complement of players to cover up his erroneous defense. He has enough guys who can shoot and playmake, he has a strong relationship with Quin Snyder as head coach, per Fischer and due to the injuries on the Celtics and Pacers, the Hawks will be in a great position to secure a top-six seed in the East, and perhaps even a top-four spot.

If Young wants max money, next season will be his chance to prove it. Everything is lining up for him to have a massive year, one that could come with various individual accolades and perhaps a deep run in the playoffs. But it’ll be on Young to take advantage of the Hawks constructing a perfect situation for him.