Trae Young is one of the NBA's youngest superstars. The 23-year-old led his Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and won a lot of applause. However, in this year's regular season game, the Hawks' performance was somewhat disappointing. They currently have a record of only 16 wins and 20 losses, ranking 12th in the East.
As the team's number one star, Trae Young has done his best. He averaged an incredible 28.9 points per game and delivered 9.5 assists. Against the Trail Blazers, Trae Young scored a record 56 points and delivered 14 assists. But to make matters worse, they lost to the Trail Blazers without Lillard and McCollum.
The loss disappointed Hawks fans. The team's general manager, Travis Schlenk, vented his displeasure with the team through Radio Atlanta. During the conversation, the general manager hinted that the team might consider taking some action.
"When your team doesn't play as well as you think it is, it's a pill that's hard to swallow. Maybe I need to lower my expectations for this team. Ultimately, all of this fell on my shoulders. I pinched this team together and they didn't respond. So we definitely need to dig deeper. ”
"We see the same thing every game. Again, again, against the Trail Blazers, we were ahead of the curve into the fourth quarter. Then we couldn't stay ahead. In the end it all fell on me. So we have to look at this team, the team we saw last year in the second half of the season, or the team we saw this year. That is why we must determine whether to adjust or not. ”
After the Atlanta Hawks made their way to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21, they were widely expected to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference this season. They barely signed a new man in the offseason, instead giving Collins a new contract while extending Capela's contract.
If current form continues, the Hawks may not even make it to the playoffs. The Hawks certainly have the assets to act on the trading market if they want to, and young players like Hunter and Cam Redish are likely to become sought-after goods.