Tag: trae young

Trae Young had 2 open looks to tie the game and brutally missed both of them

What a brutal ending!

It’s been a tough year for the Atlanta Hawks.

At 31-31, Atlanta is a middling Eastern Conference team and is just barely hanging onto a playoff spot. Meanwhile, former head coach Nate McMillan was fired for problems that probably weren’t entirely his fault.

Some have surmised that Trae Young is the Hawks’ real issue. For what it’s worth, Young’s having a trademark stat-stuffing season while averaging 27.1 points, 10.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and a steal per game.

However, he’s only shooting roughly 32 percent from behind the three-point line.

Young had an opportunity to quell some of this criticism in new coach Quin Snyder’s debut against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. In a back-and-forth affair that saw the Wizards erase an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit, the point guard almost rescued the Hawks.

With Atlanta needing a three to knot the game up at 119 points apiece, Young bricked an open, very deep three-point attempt. (A shot he probably could’ve taken another step or two forward on.) The Hawks would rebound Young’s initial miss, and he’d get the ball in his hands again — another brick.

And a 119-116 loss.

Woof. As if the Hawks’ campaign wasn’t already a huge mess all around, their best player couldn’t come through for them in a clutch spot from behind the arc. Twice. It’s almost too fitting this failure happens in the first game with a new head coach, too.

The regular season isn’t over, but the Hawks’ mediocre year continues.

Trae Young’s Instagram post had fans convinced he wants the Hawks to hire Steve Nash

Is Trae lobbying for the next coach?

The Atlanta Hawks fired head coach Nate McMillan on Tuesday after two straight disappointing seasons as the full-time head coach and named Joe Prunty as the interim. McMillan helped lead the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in the interim role back in 2021, was named head coach and has since clashed with his biggest star, Trae Young, and hovered around .500 with a talented roster.

A change was expected.

Well, it sure looks like Young has a name in mind to be the next Hawks head coach.

On Wednesday, Young posted a series of photos on Instagram with the caption, “One thing we can never get back, Time! ~Don’t waste it~” It seemed to be a veiled message to the Hawks, and interestingly enough, Young was wearing a Phoenix Suns Steve Nash jersey in a few of the photos.

The image of Young wearing a Suns jersey was a bit jarring at first glance. After all, there had been rumblings earlier this season about a potential Trae Young trade.

But this really appeared to be about Nash more than anything else. Nash was Young’s favorite player growing up. And despite Nash’s shaky tenure in Brooklyn and critical comments about Young’s foul-hunting moves, he would be a head coach who would immediately have Trae’s respect.

NBA fans certainly read into the post as Young lobbying for a Nash hire.

Nate McMillan wasn’t the problem for the Atlanta Hawks — the vibes were

The Hawks didn’t have a Nate McMillan problem. They had a vibes problem.

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Nate McMillan was unceremoniously relieved from his duties by the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.

By no means did he do a perfect job. The Hawks had high expectations for this team they poured everything into. But…they’re just a play-in team. And that’s not good enough. So, sure, it’s fair to lay some blame at his feet. But the problems in Atlanta are bigger than just Nate McMillan.

So much bigger.

We’ve seen this story before, folks. McMillan was removed from the Hawks’ job the same way that he got it. Nearly two years ago to the day on March 1, the Hawks tapped McMillan as their interim head coach after they fired Lloyd Pierce.

Pierce’s problem was his reportedly “strained” relationship with Trae Young toward the end of his tenure. By then, multiple players on the roster were OK with the Hawks moving on.

Essentially the same exact thing is happening with McMillan. Yes, there are things you can point to in Atlanta’s performance that say change is necessary. They’re a play-in team with an average offense and one of the worst defenses in the NBA. None of that is good.

But the real reason McMillan’s gone is — you guessed it! — he can’t get along with Trae Young.

Their beef has been well documented this season. The two even had a heated exchange that ultimately led to Young not playing in a game against Denver early in the season after he reportedly refused to participate in a team shootaround.

Things got so bad after the incident that McMillan actually considered leaving in the middle of the season, per The Athletic. Ultimately, instead of waiting around for McMillan to make that decision, the Hawks just made it for him.

Here’s the kicker. Hawks’ GM Landy Fields is looking for a coach that will improve “player development and accountability,” according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. They want someone who will help in “defining what a Hawks player will be” — whatever that means.

Now, maybe I’m tripping. But isn’t that…exactly what it seemed like McMillan was doing?

He holds the team’s very best player accountable and asks him to do a thing with the team. It blows up in his face and boom — a few months later he’s out. None of this adds up to me.

I don’t think the Hawks had a Nate McMillan problem. Was he the solution? Maybe not. But their vibes are off. And they’ve been off for a while.

Maybe it’s Trae Young. Maybe it’s the fact John Collins basically lives on the trade block these days. Maybe it’s the pressure of giving everything up for Dejounte Murray. I don’t know.

But the Hawks need to figure it out. And they don’t have a coach to blame anymore.

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(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

NBA Twitter reacts to All-Star Reserves: ‘Trae not making it is hilarious’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the All-Star Game Reserves.

The 2022-23 NBA All-Star Game Reserves were announced Thursday night, with Trae Young, De’Aaron Fox, and James Harden not making the final cut.

As expected, NBA Twitter had a lot of reactions to the players who got snubbed from the 2023 All-Star teams.

NBA All-Star Game 2023: The 8 biggest snubs after reserves unveiling

Rookie Wire took a look at some of the biggest snubs from the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.

The NBA on Thursday unveiled the seven reserve players from each conference to complete the rosters for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James led all players in fan voting to represent the Western Conference as a starter. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was the lead vote-getter in the Eastern Conference. The two players will serve as captains and select their teams right before the start of the All-Star Game for the first time.

Joining James as the starters from the Western Conference are Nikola Jokic (Denver), Zion Williamson (New Orleans), Stephen Curry (Golden State) and Luka Doncic (Dallas). From the Eastern Conference, the other starters are Kevin Durant (Brooklyn), Jayson Tatum (Boston), Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn) and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland).

NBA All-Star Game: The 45 rookies to make the annual showcase game

The seven reserves in each conference were voted on by the 30 head coaches in the NBA. Each selected two guards, three frontcourt players and two additional players from any position, but were not permitted to choose players from their team.

The 14 reserve players that will join the 10 starters:

Eastern Conference Western Conference
Joel Embiid, 76ers Ja Morant, Grizzlies
DeMar DeRozan, Bulls Domantas Sabonis, Kings
Jaylen Brown, Celtics Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
Bam Adebayo, Heat Paul George, Clippers
Jrue Holiday, Bucks Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
Julius Randle, Knicks Lauri Markkanen, Jazz
Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies

With the rosters set, Rookie Wire took a look at some of the biggest snubs from the announcement of the reserves. It should be stated that some of these players could eventually make it as replacement players for those All-Stars who may be injured.

Note: Players are listed in no particular order.

Atlanta Hawks scouting reports

HoopsHype presents player scouting reports for the 2022-23 Atlanta Hawks, including Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.

The Atlanta Hawks boast a solid roster in 2022-23, with a superstar point guard leading the way in Trae Young, another borderline star in Dejounte Murray and good role players like Clint Capela, John Collins and De’Andre Hunter.

Below, we present player scouting reports for every player on the 2022-23 Hawks roster.

John Collins’ game-winning tip-in saved Trae Young after the Hawks point guard took the most confounding shot

Trae Young has to be a better teammate, man.

The Atlanta Hawks have had one of the weirdest seasons ever. The dysfunction is just palpable.

You’ve got player and coach beef between Trae Young and Nate McMillan. You’ve got wild blown leads. You’ve even got the kid of the owner causing dismay throughout the organization.

So while it might just be me reading a little too deeply into things, it’s hard to not take all of this into account when seeing the shot that Trae Young took to try and end the Hawks’ game against the Pacers on Friday night.

Young essentially shot a half-court 3-point shot with more than a few ticks left on the clock. It was completely ridiculous.

John Collins saves the day here with that tip-in, but this could’ve ended so much worse than it actually did.

Not only did Young take a shot from the logo on what should’ve been the last possession of the game, but he took it with 5 seconds left while facing a double team.

There was more than enough time for the Hawks to make a move. They could’ve run some action and get a much better shot than this. Instead, this is what they came up with.

Tom Ziller, author of the NBA newsletter Good Morning It’s Basketball, summed it up perfectly here.

Young had gone 6-9 from deep before this. So, sure. A 3-pointer is probably a good shot for him. But this isn’t a normal 3-pointer.

Young shot that ball from 31 feet out. Currently, he’s shooting 31% on the year from between 30 and 34 feet away from the rim on the season. This is a makeable shot, sure. But it’s certainly not a good one.

If he makes it, great. He’s a hero and all is forgiven. Seeing him miss this, though, there can’t be too many folks happy with this shot. Luckily, Collins saves him in the end.

If not, we may have had another Hawks controversy on our hands.

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Is the Hawks’ recent dysfunction due to the growing influence of the owner’s 27-year-old son?

“Key Hawks figures were feeling undermined by Nick Ressler’s influence became a growing issue internally.”

This has not been an ideal first half of the season for the Atlanta Hawks, who currently have a losing record and are in danger of missing the playoffs.

The Hawks were expected to take a leap forward after trading for two-way guard Dejounte Murray, whose defensive prowess was expected to help Trae Young and create an All-Star duo in the backcourt.

Instead, after lofty preseason expectations, there have been several lowlights both on and off the court — including beef between Young and Hawks coach Nate McMillan that has led some insiders to speculate the former Oklahoma guard may actually get traded.

Amidst the drama, Hawks executive Travis Schlenk announced last month that he would resign as president of basketball operations. Before his tenure with the Hawks, he previously worked in the Warriors’ front office and he was considered massively influential in Golden State’s decisions to draft Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Schlenk has moved into an advisory role, though Atlanta’s John Collins recently put air quotes around the title when he described it to The Athletic’s Sam Amick.

Amick also reported that Nick Ressler, who is the 27-year-old son of Hawks owner Tony Ressler, has gained “increased influence on roster and staffing decisions” over the past few years (via The Athletic):

“As Fox Sports’ Ric Bucher reported recently, league sources confirmed to The Athletic that Nick Ressler’s effect on the decision-making process played a pivotal part in the power dynamics that ultimately lead to Schlenk’s exile. This was a bit of an open secret around the league, and it is clear that Nick Ressler’s voice is being heavily considered on all things Hawks these days.”

While we do not know exactly what happened, Amick’s report that Ressler’s increased role played a “pivotal part” in Schlenk’s departure is notable.

Amick also added that key figures within the organization were “feeling undermined” by Ressler, and it has become a “growing issue internally” in recent months.

“As I discussed on a December podcast visit with The Ringer, this reality that key Hawks figures were feeling undermined by Nick Ressler’s influence became a growing issue internally in recent months – specifically in relation to Trae Young — and had everything to do with Tony Ressler’s choice to overhaul the staff. The Dejounte Murray trade with San Antonio was the beginning of the end, as sources say it went down despite Schlenk expressing his concerns about the price being paid (three first-rounders, a first-round pick swap and Danilo Gallinari) and with Nick Ressler known to be a driving force behind the deal.”

Ressler is reportedly considered closer to Young than Schlenk was, so Young may feel even more empowered within the franchise than he previously felt.

Others who may feel more empowered include former NBA players Landry Fields (who was elevated to general manager in June) and Kyle Korver (who will reportedly become the assistant GM).

Grant Liffmann (a former media member and a close friend of Fields who works in Atlanta’s front office) and Ryan Silverstein (a close friend of Ressler who works in Atlanta’s front office) are also considered influential within the organization.

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Trade rumor rankings: Trae Young, Zach LaVine and more

HoopsHype ranks the five players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the prior week, led by Trae Young and Zach LaVine.

It’s time for another edition of our NBA trade rumor rankings series, where we rank the five players who have appeared most often in trade rumors over the past week, judged by appearances on our page.

We have a few fresh names on the list this week, star names at that, and although all of the recent scuttle indicates this could be a quieter deadline with so many teams believing they have a shot to make a deep playoff run, we’re sure we’ll get a surprise or two out of the trade market.

Below, check out our latest trade rumors ranking.

NBA Twitter reacts to Trae Young trade rumors: ‘Ice Trae to the Pelicans would be fun’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the trade rumors surrounding Trae Young in Atlanta.

According to Chris Haynes, executives around the NBA believe Trae Young could request a trade out of Atlanta.

The Hawks aren’t in a very good place right now, and NBA Twitter had a few things to say about the rumors surrounding Young.