For a long while, the summer of 2025 has been a natural point of evaluation for the Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young. The lead reason is that Young has only one guaranteed year (plus a player option) left on his contract, and he is eligible for a lucrative contract extension in Atlanta.
A recently analogous example is what transpired with Donovan Mitchell a year ago in Cleveland, when most of the league was at least whispering that the Cavaliers may have to move Mitchell if he the talented guard did not sign an extension. That situation resolved relatively quickly, with Mitchell inking a three-year extension and the Cavaliers undoubtedly exhaling when he agreed to stay.
For Young, things may not be as clear, as there seemed to be virtually no doubt that the Cavaliers were going to at least offer the most they could to entice Mitchell to stay after a 48-win season and a second round playoff appearance. Plus, Cleveland had recently spent a great deal of capital to trade for Mitchell in the first place, making the marriage a bit fresher, at least from the outside.
The nuts and bolts
Beginning on July 1, Trae Young is eligible for a contract extension worth up to four years and more than $220 million. Those numbers could rise if Young earns All-NBA honors but, while he is at least a fringe candidate, most publicly released ballots do not include Young, and he is a relative long shot to earn the distinction.
Crucially, the Hawks do not have to extend Young, even if they want him to stay. Atlanta could instead choose to let Young near free agency without a new deal, understanding that no team could pay him more next summer than the Hawks, and Atlanta maintains his Bird Rights. However, that is a risky proposition, and it is a central tenet of why this summer feels like such a pivot point for all sides.
Is Trae Young a "max player?"
The simple answer to the question above is yes, though one could include the caveat of "for now." It is a legitimate question whether Young would still be playing at a max, or at least a near-max, level by the end of a four-year extension that would take him through his age-31 season. It helps that Young is arguably the best passer in the world, but he remains a (very) small player in today's NBA, and the history of small guards aging into their 30s is mixed at best. For every Chris Paul, there are multiple instances of the cliff coming relatively early, even if Young could likely weather that more than most with his passing and craft.
As far as his current level of play, Young certainly earned his max-level salary for 2024-25, with no reason to think he won't again in 2025-26. He comfortably led the NBA in assists, averaging 11.6 per game, and Young produced 880 assists, the second-most by any NBA player in a season since 2009-10. He also lapped the field in more advanced numbers like potential assists and points created through assists, even with a Hawks roster surrounding him that no one would mistake as an elite unit when it comes to spacing or shot-making.
Defensively, Young is quite limited, and that will always be the case. It is notable, however, that he has taken a step (or two) toward competence on that end of the floor, using his quick hands as a disruptive force and leaning on his guile to scram out of unfavorable situations. Also, the Hawks showed competence on the defensive end of the floor for large portions of the season, producing a league-average defense until Jalen Johnson went down and finishing in the top 20 even with an injury barrage removing any functional frontcourt depth.
Can the Hawks win big with Trae Young?
The answer is yes, but the follow-up is "how big?" and it is a reasonable question. Young already captained an Eastern Conference Finals team. It was only the second appearance for the franchise in the ECF since moving to Atlanta, and the Hawks won a couple of games in that series, moving closer to a title than any team in Atlanta Hawks history. Was that team at a true "Conference Finalist" level? Perhaps not, but Young was brilliant on the playoff stage, and the roster was well-crafted around him.
Fast-forward to now and, while Young did not score on the same level in 2024-25 as he did in 2020-21, his passing and defense helped to bridge that gap. As an organization, Atlanta openly admitted to the 2024-25 season being a "retooling" effort, one that eventually led to a front office change with Landry Fields relieved of his duties in April. Still, a bit of context would point to the Hawks having a very interesting young core that consists of Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu, and of course, Trae Young. Young is the oldest of that crowd at 26, but he is also firmly in his prime and not so far removed from the others that a timetable reset is needed.
It is more than fair to wonder what a team's ceiling is with Trae Young as the undisputed best player on the roster, but if he is flanked by several quality pieces, a roster that could perennially project as a home-court advantage team in the Eastern Conference seems reasonable. If the Hawks took a bigger swing to add at least an equivalent talent to Young, or perhaps if Johnson or Risacher took a large leap, the ceiling could be even higher.
The young core makes a lot more sense with Trae Young in it
A crucial, and sometimes overlooked point, about Atlanta's attractive young nucleus is that the reality of each player points to the likelihood of "supporting" status, at least to some degree. Jalen Johnson was one of four players in the NBA to averaging at least 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists this season, but he probably isn't the No. 1 engine of a quality NBA offense. Zaccharie Risacher put together a strong rookie campaign, but few are projecting him as a clear No. 1, more likely pointing to the kind of two-way forward that every team wants with shooting, secondary scoring, size, and defense. The same can be said for Daniels, who is a defense-first ace, and Okongwu.
That's where Young comes in. While one could argue that it doesn't have to be Young specifically, the Hawks absolutely need a lead initiator to make the rest of the pieces sing. Simply put, they are already have one, and it would be a lot more difficult to trade Young and then acquire another one, rather than just keeping him and letting the pieces develop.
So ... what do the Hawks do?
The overall takeaway after surveying the situation is that Young is more valuable to the Hawks than he would be as a trade piece. Some of that is the functionality of the young core. Some of that is Young being very, very good at basketball. Some of that is also the reality that he doesn't seem to have an overwhelming trade market. Some of that is even that Atlanta's ownership group, led by Tony Ressler, seems eager to win now in a way that would be far more challenging if Young was shipped out.
Only a few teams in the NBA can have a true top-five player that every organization salivates over because they know the vast majority of title-winning teams have them. Trae Young isn't the player and, if you don't have that player, you want that player. However, the Hawks don't have control of their own draft for a couple more years, they already have an interesting young core in place, and Young is uniquely positioned, both as a distributor and an overall initiator, to augment what is around him in Atlanta.
Let the extension negotiations begin.