Hawks' Trae Young Could Be Headed Toward Surprise Free Agency After 'Disappointment'

The way things have worked recently in the modern NBA is that star players no longer spend the early part of July sitting in conference rooms being wooed by a variety of teams with the hefty cap space needed to sign them in free agency. Now, stars secure their contracts first, and if it comes time for that star to bolt, they do so through a trade. Trae Young of the Hawks, though, may break that mold.

Young is still, no doubt, a star player. He has been with the Hawks for seven years, and while he averaged 24.2 points and a league-high 11.6 assists last season, he is viewed as a strictly offensive-minded player whose style makes building a team difficult.

As such, reports Jake Fischer, via the Stein Line substack, the hawks are not interested in going all-in on a Young contract extension. Young has $46 million remaining on his contract for the coming year, and a $49 million 2026-27 option he will surely exercise next summer.

Writes Fischer: "Sources say Young's side has actually been resigned for some time to the prospect of seeing out the final guaranteed year on his current contract rather than securing an extension, like his current contract, worth in excess of $200 million."

He continued: "The reported disappointment Young is said to be feeling about his contract status appears to stem largely from the fact that the Hawks never really broached an extension at all."

Hawks' 2025-26 Could Set Trae Young's Value

But, as Fischer points out, this could be a pivotal season for Young in terms of how the remainder of his career pans out. Atlanta has quietly built a talented young team around him, one that can play a level of team defense strong enough to mask Young's own weaknesses.

With Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum out of commission with torn Achilles tendons, and with the Bucks on the decline, the Hawks are in position to move into the top five in the East, if not higher. As the Hawks' young core of Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher improves, Young's stock will only go up.

That will put him in position to collect a hefty new deal from the Hawks--or from elsewhere when 2026 free agency comes around.

More Fischer: "It's certainly feasible that (Young) could emerge as one of the league's premier free agents in the summer of 2026 should he decline the player option."