Hawks’ Trae Young says he’s focused on Play-In Tournament, not offseason trade

MIAMI — No one from Atlanta Hawks’ ownership or the front office has told Trae Young he could be traded, but “stuff like that comes out all the time,” he told The Athletic on Tuesday.

Indeed, a report Monday from The Ringer said the Hawks’ front office was given the green light to make any roster changes it sees fit, including potentially trading Young — the face of the franchise who is in Year 1 of a five-year, $215 million contract. Team owner Tony Ressler told The Athletic virtually the same thing last month.

“It could be false, could be true, you never know,” Young said following the Hawks’ shootaround in Miami, where they will play the Miami Heat on Tuesday in an Eastern Conference Play-In game.

Young said his focus is on beating Miami and advancing to the playoffs for the third consecutive season, and second via the Play-In. But if that doesn’t happen, if the Hawks were to lose tonight and again Friday, finishing a disappointing and trying season in which Young clashed with a coach (Nate McMillan) who was eventually fired, the whispers around the Hawks would only grow. It is the nature of the NBA in its current form, where star players like Young can force trades even while under contract, and ownership gives up on those stars it had just agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to over the course of five seasons.

The Hawks were soundly defeated by the Heat in five games in the 2022 Eastern Conference first round, and Young was smothered by Miami’s defense, averaging 15.4 points on 32 percent shooting (and 18 percent shooting from 3-point range).

Young, 24, averaged 26.2 points this season and a career-high 10.2 assists. He played the last part of the season under new coach Quin Snyder, who has a reputation as one of the best offensive-minded coaches in the NBA — something to think about when considering whether Young actually wants to ask out of Atlanta.

When asked by The Athletic if these Play-In games felt bigger, as though they could affect Young’s fate with the Hawks, he said: “It’s hard – you can’t look at it.

“Especially as the player in the moment, you can’t look at what’s gonna come on next year,” Young said. “After the game, if the game doesn’t go your way tonight, what’s gonna happen? Like, you can’t focus on things like that. That messes up your head and then you’re not ready to play so, me, I’m not worried about that. I’m gonna let my game play. After the season, whatever happens, happens. I mean, I’m focused on the next task at hand. I can’t worry about the outside noise or whatever fake stories come out, or what’s true, whatever.”

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(Photo: Brett Davis / USA Today)