Trae Young’s seemingly worsening relationship with the Atlanta Hawks has been in the news this season, but the issues might not actually be new.
Lauren Williams and Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an extensive piece this week on the various problems plaguing the Hawks. Notably, the piece mentioned a “deteriorated” relationship between the Hawks star Young and executive Travis Schlenk, who stepped down as Atlanta’s president of basketball operations last month. The issues between the two reportedly started after Game 2 of the Hawks’ first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat in 2022. Young is said to have chartered a private flight back to Atlanta without informing the team. For that stunt, Young was ultimately fined in the middle of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Hawks would lose the series to the Heat in five games.
The articles also touches on reported issues with Hawks head coach Nate McMillan as well as apparent disagreements within Atlanta’s front office over certain roster moves. You can read it in full here.
The multi-time All-Star Young is the Hawks’ franchise player and already led them to a conference finals berth in 2021. But the team has been less successful recently, including this season with Atlanta hovering at .500. Young also had a notable incident with McMillan at a team practice last month that drew scrutiny.
At 24 years old, Young cannot become a free agent until 2026 after signing a five-year, $207 million max extension with the Hawks in 2021. But there are already rumblings that Young might soon request a trade, and those could grow even louder amid the reported dysfunction right now in Atlanta.
