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New York Times
01-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Hawks' rapid rebuild around Trae Young comes full circle, so is he still Atlanta's future?
For so long, Trae Young seemed destined for an eventual trade. The Atlanta Hawks' All-Star guard was always a tremendous playmaker, but his ball dominance and defensive vulnerability made building a contender around him a quagmire. It meant Young lived in trade rumors every silly season. The Hawks made the Eastern Conference Finals years ago with Young, so there had to be a solution to get there once again. Now, after a dramatic yearlong makeover, the Hawks may have a shot at returning. Advertisement Following years of Young trade rumors, the Hawks have built a team optimized to fit around the recently evolved version of him. Last season, then-general manager Landry Fields traded Dejounte Murray for this year's Most Improved Player, Dyson Daniels, and extended forward Jalen Johnson for what looked like a team-friendly deal. Onsi Saleh replaced Fields this offseason, swiftly completing the rebuild. At the opening of free agency Monday, Atlanta reportedly agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for stout defensive wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Then they reportedly agreed to sign sharpshooter Luke Kennard, joining recent trade acquisition Kristaps Porziņģis in a reloaded Hawks rotation. Atlanta can roll out a lineup of Young, Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher (last year's No. 1 pick), Johnson and Porziņģis on opening night. Coming off the bench will be Onyeka Okongwu, who showed some impressive development when he was promoted to the starting lineup last season; Alexander-Walker; Kennard; last week's 23rd pick, big Asa Newell; 2023 15th pick Kobe Bufkin at backup point guard; hybrid defensive big Mouhamed Gueye and spark plug shooter Vit Krejcii. The Hawks were ahead of schedule early last season, on pace for a 44-win season at the halfway point before Johnson's left torn labrum ended his breakout season in January. They still managed to finish 40-42 before losing to the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament, with most of Atlanta's young rotation players showing continued growth throughout the year. The Hawks had little shooting around Young last year, so coach Quin Snyder devised an improvisational, cutting-based, transition-focused offense. It resulted in the NBA's 14th-ranked offense in the first half of the season, despite DeAndre Hunter being the only player to even shoot above league-average from 3. Advertisement Even before their free agent signings Monday, the Porziņģis trade drastically changed the possibilities for this offense. He may be the best player Young has ever played with when healthy, particularly considering how well they will accentuate each other's strengths. Porziņģis averaged about 20 points per game in his two seasons with the Boston Celtics, and he wasn't even the second option. He has a chance to make it back to the All-Star Game playing alongside Young and will be the key to pushing the Hawks toward a return to the conference finals. The Hawks' offense functioned with Clint Capela and Okongwu at the five last season, neither of whom could pull the defense out of the paint through pick-and-pop actions. Porziņģis and Young can run the pick-and-roll 30 feet out and spread the defense so far apart that Atlanta's wings will have much more room to flash to the paint or attack closeouts. Porziņģis is coming off the best shooting season of his career (41.2 percent on 6.0 attempts per game) and is adept at attacking closeouts to make swing passes or get to his high post game. He also gives the Hawks an offensive reprieve with his post game, as the Celtics often used him as an isolation option to target cross-matches and give their primary creators a break. He was a dud in the postseason due to a mystery illness, but played at his usual high level after returning from ankle surgery in late November. The Hawks have possibly the best backup big in the league in Okongwu, and Porziņģis is on an expiring contract, still giving Okongwu a long-term pathway to starting. With Johnson being big enough to play some small-ball five and Newell needing minutes to develop, the Hawks will be happy to keep Porziņģis' minutes down and help him load manage throughout the season. On defense, he can slot into the same drop coverages Capela ran and will likely sit below the 3-point line on ball screens while Young chases over the pick. Atlanta will have to bifurcate its game plan once again, playing a deep drop with Porziņģis and more aggressive coverages with Okongwu. With Daniels, Risacher and Johnson on the wings, the Hawks will be able to flood the gaps with aggressive help when Young and Porziņģis run a deep drop. Advertisement When drop coverage becomes untenable in certain postseason matchups, Okongwu can step in and guard up to the screen level for 36 minutes. This team can roll out various lineups and identities, a key to postseason survival. This marks the second consecutive strong offseason for Atlanta, whose direction crystallized around Young with these moves. But will they keep him long term? Starting on July 6, Young is eligible for a four-year, $229 million extension that would take him into his 30s. He is entering the last guaranteed year of his contract, with a player option for the 2026-27 season. Considering how well Daniels, Risacher and Johnson play off a primary creator, this version of the Hawks will need a point guard to be the focal point of everything. Young led the NBA with 11.6 assists per game, but also embraced playing off the ball more than ever so the team could play more decisively uptempo in transition. Few players in the league are a better fit. His defensive focus and toughness also took a step forward, exhibiting the potential for him to lead a winning program at a higher level. Multiple reports said Young was recruiting Alexander-Walker and Kennard to the Hawks. He has maintained publicly that he wants to remain in Atlanta, where he has spent the duration of his seven-year career. Saleh's comments at his introductory news conference indicated he's building this roster with Young in mind. 'Trae, me and him spoke the other day, and he's just locked in for this season coming up,' Saleh said last week. 'We're both locked in, and we have a lot of optionality this summer.' Saleh and the Hawks maximized that optionality this past week. The East is wide open with the Indiana Pacers, Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks losing star players to Achilles tears during the postseason, and the Knicks are still searching for a new coach. Their draft night trade with the Pelicans somehow has an unprotected New Orleans pick coming their way in a year. Advertisement The Hawks are positioned to go from missing the postseason to a sustainable pursuit of home-court advantage if they can build off last year's momentum. With Risacher finally finding his footing late in the season, the Hawks may once again be ahead of schedule in this rapid rebuild. (Photo of Trae Young: Brennan Asplen / Getty Images)
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Trae Young ejected for 'making a mockery of the game' after firing the ball at 1 ref, playing keep-away from another
Trae Young lost his cool and his place on the court late in the Atlanta Hawks' play-in loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night. The Hawks guard helped orchestrate a rally from a 22-point first-half deficit to get within three points in the third quarter. But the game slipped from Atlanta's grasp in the fourth, and Young responded by taunting multiple referees. He threw the ball at one, then kicked it away from another, earning two quick technical fouls and an ejection. The game was out of hand when Young got tossed. Young nutmegged Wendell Carter Jr., then scored a meaningless layup that cut Orlando's lead to 107-87 with 4:50 remaining. Young then fired the ball at referee James Williams on the baseline, earning a quick technical foul. Williams then advanced the dead ball into the front court to referee Pat Fraher for the Magic's technical foul shot. But Young intercepted the pass and kicked it toward the sideline away from Fraher. This, of course, drew Young's second technical and an ejection. Trae Young goes between Carter's legs and is ejected FOR back-to-back technical fouls. — ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) April 16, 2025 But Young wasn't done. He picked up the ball and faked passing it to Fraher before playing keep-away with a crossover dribble. He then finally conceded his ejection by dropping the ball behind him on his way to the tunnel. Video from the TNT broadcast partially tells the story. But it's obscured by replay breakaways. Uninterrupted video from a fan in the nosebleeds paints the full picture. TRAE YOUNG HAS BEEN EJECTED FROM THE GAME AFTER HITTING A NASTY NUTMEG 😭 — Playmaker (@playmaker) April 16, 2025 Young was walking down court after his first technical, then jumped to kick the ball away from Fraher as soon as he saw it coming in his direction. Both technicals were obviously warranted. But just in case it wasn't clear, Williams offered some clarification on why they were issued in a postgame interview with a pool reporter. "Trae Young received his first unsportsmanlike technical foul for throwing the ball at a game official," Williams said. As for the second? "He received his second unsportsmanlike technical foul for kicking the ball away and making a mockery of the game as we were attempting to shoot the free throw for the first technical foul, and by rule when the player receives two unsportsmanlike fouls he's ejected from the game," Williams continued. A "mockery of the game." That's a succinct assessment. The Magic went on to a 120-95 win to secure the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hawks have one last chance to earn a playoff bid in an elimination game Friday. They'll take on the winner of Wednesday's play-in game between the Bulls and Heat with the No. 8 seed at stake. The loser's season will be over. That means Young has at least one more game with stakes left to play this season, assuming he doesn't come away from Tuesday's incident with a suspension. Here's what he had to say postgame about his ejection and moving forward from it: "I told him I was sticking up for the squad, and I'm not gonna let the refs frustrate me like that in our next game," Young said, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I know we gotta win or go home next game, and I'm gonna be ready." It's not clear who "him" is in this instance. But Young knows the assignment. Hawks coach Quin Snyder said Young addressed the situation with his teammates. "He's quick to own that," Snyder said. "But the game was out of hand at that point. "But again, this is playoff basketball, there's going to be adversity. We have to continue to handle it in a way that can power through some of that."

NBC Sports
28-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Rumors will fly, but Trae Young reportedly likely returns to Hawks next season
Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks' season came to a disappointingly early end when the No. 8 seed dropped Play-In Tournament games to the Magic and Heat, leaving Atlanta out of the playoffs entirely. Atlanta's ownership reacted to that disappointment by firing GM Landry Fields and starting the search for a new head of basketball operations. That change at the top will lead to a lot of speculation about Atlanta looking to move on from Young this summer, potentially trading him and pivoting to a retooling strategy around Jalen Johnson, Zaccharie Risacher, Dyson Daniels, and others. Don't bet on it. While it's possible, multiple reports suggest the Hawks will bring Young back next season. Whether they work out a contract extension with him this offseason is another question. Here is what Marc Stein and Jake Fischer wrote at The Stein Line: 'Talk of potential Young trades has undeniably faded after his generally strong 2024-25 season and return to All-Star status. Which is in sharp contrast to the past few seasons that ended with no shortage of 'Trae Trade Talk'... 'Hawks personnel have likewise spoken often this season about Young's growth as a leader to the team's young wing men.' The reality is that even if the new lead executive in Atlanta wants to trade Young, his trade value around the league is not high, or at least not high enough to get the return the Hawks would seek. Young is perceived as a quality offensive player — he was an All-Star who averaged 24.2 points and 11.6 assists a game this season — but an inconsistent 3-point shooter and weak defender, and while he can raise the floor of a franchise, there is a ceiling on how good a team can be with him as its centerpiece. While some fans had tried to link him to San Antonio last summer, the Spurs made their move and traded for De'Aaron Fox. Also, Young isn't looking to move on. Here is what NBA insider Chris Haynes had to say about Young and his future. 'He said he knew there was going to be speculation once the Hawks went to a younger core... So he's somebody who, again, just told me a week/a week and a half ago, that he's down with the process. He wants to see this Atlanta Hawks squad turn the corner and he wants to be a pivotal part in that.' The smart bet is that Young stays with the Hawks next season, but they won't offer him an extension unless he's willing to take a very team-friendly (and tradable) offer. Young would be a free agent in the summer of 2026. However, it is all going to play out, nothing serious will happen until the Hawks hire their new head of basketball operations.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley wins 2025 NBA Defensive Player of the Year
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley has been named the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Thursday. The fourth-year forward beat out Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green and Atlanta Hawks' Dyson Daniels to earn his first league-wide honor. Mobley finished the season averaging 18.5 points per game, but his defensive presence also contributed to Cleveland's success this year. Mobley finished with 9.3 rebounds per game, averaging 7.0 defensive rebounds; he also nabbed 1.6 blocks per game and 0.9 steals per game. Advertisement In a race without a clear frontrunner, Mobley ended up on top. The forward received 35 first-place votes and 30 second-place votes to finish with 285 total points — well ahead of Daniels (197 points) and Green (154 points). The 2025 race for DPOY was more open that normal, in part because a number of players were not eligible for the award. Players are required to play in at least 65 games in order to be considered for end-of-season awards; they also had to play at least 20 minutes in 63 of those games. That requirement put several players out of contention, including Victor Wembanyama, who was sidelined after the All-Star break with a blood clot in his shoulder after 46 games. But it left Mobley (71 games), Green (68 games) and Daniels (76 games) free to become the award's three finalists. Advertisement With Wembanyama out, the conversation around the award completely changed without a frontrunner. (Even while missing the final two months of the season, Wembanyama still lead the leagues in blocks, ending with 176 blocks.) At the time, Memphis Grizzles center Jaren Jackson Jr. was an odds-on favorite for the award, but he did not end up making the final cut for the finalists.


New York Times
20-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NBA awards finalists: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo up for MVP
The Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokić and the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo were named finalists for the 2025 NBA MVP, according to information released by the league and shared on TNT on Sunday. One hundred media members covering the NBA decide seven individual awards as well as three All-NBA teams, two all-league defensive teams and two all-rookie teams. Winners for the individual awards will be announced on TNT during the network's playoff coverage in the coming weeks. Advertisement Among the more high-profile awards, the Cleveland Cavaliers' Evan Mobley, the Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green and the Atlanta Hawks' Dyson Daniels are finalists for Defensive Player of the Year; the Boston Celtics' Peyton Pritchard, Cleveland's Ty Jerome and the Detroit Pistons' Malik Beasley are finalists for Sixth Man of the Year; and the San Antonio Spurs' Stephon Castle, the Atlanta Hawks' Zaccharie Risacher and the Memphis Grizzlies' Jaylen Wells are finalists for Rookie of the Year. Complete list of awards finalists for the 2024-25 NBA regular season ⬇️ — NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 20, 2025 Jokić, the reigning MVP who's won the award three times overall, is trying to join LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain as four-time winners. This was his best season statistically, averaging career highs in points (29.6 ppg), rebounds (12.7 rpg) and assists (10.2 apg). Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, was not only the NBA's top scorer with 32.7 points per game, but he was the best player on the league's top team. Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, averaged 30.4 points and 11.9 boards, but the race for MVP — the league's highest individual honor in the regular season — is expected to be between Jokić and Gilgeous-Alexander. There is believed to be no single front-runner for the league's top defensive player. It would have been reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, who averaged 3.8 blocks this season, but a blood clot in his shoulder cut his season short at 46 games; players are required to play in at least 65 games to be eligible for most awards. Daniels led the NBA with 3.0 steals per game. Pritchard averaged 14 points and shot 41 percent from 3-point range off the Celtics' bench. Jerome, who missed all of last season, averaged 12.5 points and shot over 50 percent from the field and better than 40 percent from 3-point range. Beasley was third in the league in 3s per game (3.9) and helped spark the Pistons' dramatic turnaround from the worst team in the NBA to the No. 6 seed in the East. Advertisement Wembanyama's teammate, Castle, appeared in 81 games and averaged 14.7 points. The only rookie with a higher scoring average was Philadelphia's Jared McCain, who played in just 23 games because of a torn knee ligament. Finalists for the other three individual awards are: On Saturday, Atkinson was named coach of the year in the NBA by the trade association representing him and the league's other 29 coaches. He is one of a few coaches in league history to win at least 60 games in his first season as coach.