In a rare event for a star of his caliber, the Atlanta Hawks and Trae Young have not agreed to an extension yet. While both sides have remained tight-lipped about the situation, it isn’t hard to see what is happening. Young wants a max deal, but the Hawks won’t offer that until they deem he’s earned it.
Zach Lowe is on the Hawks’ side on this one, saying that Young’s next contract should be in $180-190 million range, a sharp drop from the $229 million Young can earn. Lowe’s reasoning is that Young currently makes $45.99 million, and this is a fair deal. Therefore, the best long-term outcome for both parties would be to keep Young on his current salary.
Lowe’s proposed deal would cut Young’s average annual salary by about $11 million, which is nothing to scoff at. However, he also argues that there clearly are no suitors for Young out there. If there were, he believes that Young would have been traded, or seriously shopped at the least.
This $11 million is exactly what Luke Kennard is earning. By reducing Young’s extension, the team frees up room for one more key role player, which could prove to be the difference between a successful playoff run and a disappointing era.
This is a very reasonable compromise. Young will still earn real star money, and the team will retain cap flexibility to continue to support him with roster moves.
The Hawks can soar to new heights if Young takes Lowe’s proposed deal
Of course, Young wants the max deal. Or, at the very least, he wants a deal greater than what Onsi Saleh is offering him. This obviously makes sense – you wouldn’t accept a 4-year flat rate contract at your job if you thought you deserved more.
However, Young’s contract will become a problem for the team if he accepts a max deal. If Young takes the max and the team re-signs Kristaps Porzingis, the Hawks very well could be spending over $160 million on just six players: Young, Porzingis, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Onyeka Okongwu.
$160 million is an important number, as next year’s salary cap is projected to be $165 million. This doesn’t account for Zaccharie Risacher’s eventual raise or supporting players like Luke Kennard. With the hard cap set at $209 million for next season, there is a very real chance this expensive roster could find itself locked by the intense financial restrictions of the new CBA.
Young will probably remain in Atlanta next season, despite the looming free agency. The question that remains is whether he will take a team-friendly deal. If he does, the Hawks will be in one of the best positions to compete over the back half of this decade. If he does not, the team could be stuck in the playoff purgatory that has haunted them for years.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source soaringdownsouth.com ’
