Trae Young has never been a media darling. For whatever reason, the Hawks superstar isn’t treated fairly among his peers.
I don’t know if it’s his “attitude,” style of play, or whatever the hell bothers people, but there’s a clear disdain from members of the media towards Trae Young despite being one of the brightest young stars in the Association.
It’s reached new heights, though. When ranking each club’s big 3, ESPN pundit Tim Bontemps didn’t include the face of the Atlanta Hawks franchise, ranking Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson and Zacharie Risacher as the 26th best big 3 trio. His reasoning? Trae Young is only signed through the 2025 season.
“Atlanta is in a fascinating position when it comes to this exercise. Trae Young remains a wizard with the ball in his hands and is obviously the face of the franchise,” Bontemps writes. “But with just one guaranteed year left on his deal after this season, the Hawks’ future is more directly tied to their young players: Risacher, the first pick in June’s draft; Daniels, the main player coming back in the Murray trade this summer; and Johnson, who received a five-year, $150 million extension last month.”
Holy hell, I can’t believe someone with that big of a platform can be that dense. So, let me get this straight, because he hasn’t signed another extension with the Hawks, Trae Young isn’t included in the club’s future? That’s your big brained reasoning?
That might be the most asinine thinking I’ve seen from a national pundit in quite some time. Deciding to trade Dejounte Murray directly tied the Hawks future to Trae Young, regardless of what happened with Jalen Johnson, the NBA Draft, or whoever the Murray deal brought to Atlanta.
He is the best player on the team, and the entire offseason was centered around building towards the future around Trae Young.
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Photographer: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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