After missing the NBA playoffs for a second straight year, the Atlanta Hawks are now in the hot seat.
Despite being led by franchise point guard Trae Young, some have begun questioning his fit with the current team and the organization.
Whether or not the Hawks decide to move on from him this summer, he has already cemented his name on the list of all-time Hawks players.
Before entering the NBA, Trae Young played one year at the University of Oklahoma.
While playing there, he averaged a conference-leading 27.4 points and 8.7 assists, along with 1.7 steals per game. However, in just his fifth game, he had a breakout moment.
On Nov. 26, 2017, Young recorded 43 points, four rebounds, seven assists, and two steals against Oregon. Following that game, many began comparing him to Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.
The rest of Young’s time in Oklahoma was remarkable, as he had many great games. His best game was arguably when he scored a career-high 48 points in an overtime loss to Oklahoma State.
Young’s superior talents led Oklahoma to the NCAA March Madness Tournament. After losing to Rhode Island in the first round, Young forwent his remaining three years and entered the 2018 NBA Draft.
The Dallas Mavericks drafted Young as the fifth overall pick. However, moments later, he was traded to the Hawks for the rights to Luka Doncic.
Young’s first year in the league was truly remarkable. While playing in all but one game, he averaged 19.1 points and a team-high 8.1 assists per game. At the end of the season, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team while finishing second behind Doncic for Rookie of the Year.
The 2019-20 season was arguably Young’s most productive one. He averaged a career-high 29.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He also had 11 games where he scored 40-plus points, including a then-career-high 50 points against the Miami Heat on Feb. 20. His efforts earned him his first career All-Star selection as a starter.
For the next five years, Young gave the Hawks outstanding basketball.
During that run, he averaged 26.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists, and 1.1 steals. He earned two more All-Star selections in 2022 and 2024 and a spot on the All-NBA Third Team in 2022.
He established himself as a top point guard in a league of talented point guards. Since the 2018-19 campaign, Young has recorded 193 games of 20-plus points and 10-plus assists.
Most 20p/10a games since 2018-19:
193 – Trae Young
142 – Nikola Jokic
137 – Luka Doncic
136 – James Harden
105 – LeBron James
83 – Russell Westbrook
79 – Damian Lillard pic.twitter.com/IYtuqOH8wV— The Lead (@TheLeadSM) April 23, 2025
Young also made the Hawks a playoff team for the first time since the Paul Millsap days. In the 2020-21 season, he led Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2015. Young averaged 28.8 points, 9.5 assists, and 1.3 steals during that playoff run.
Led by Young, the Hawks made the playoffs the next two years. Although they lost in the first round each time, Young averaged 22.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per contest.
Despite the achievements, Trae Young’s time with the Hawks wasn’t always full of glory.
While coached by Lloyd Pierce and Nate McMillan, he often bumped heads with them. When the Hawks fired Pierce in March 2021, reports stated that Young supported the decision. Due to these situations, Young was often labeled a “coach killer”.
Young has two more years left on his five-year contract, with a player option for the 2026-27 season. There is no telling what the future holds, but if his time in Atlanta does end before his contract, he has done more than enough to earn respect from the Hawks’ organization.
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The Sacramento Kings have moved on from young wing Isaiah Crawford, withdrawing their qualifying offer for the forward and making him an unrestricted free agent. And it didn't take long for Crawford to land elsewhere, as he has already signed a new two-way deal with the Houston Rockets, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Crawford will move on to the Rockets after just one season in Sacramento, where he played predominantly in the G-League, averaging 13.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on 50.2% shooting from the field and 44.2% from three, according to Basketball Reference. The numbers are great for Crawford, but he never really got a chance to prove himself on the NBA court, playing in just 46 total minutes across 15 games with the Sacramento squad. The Kings' roster is nearly full, as they have just one final two-way spot left and all 15 standard NBA contracts taken after the signing of Doug McDermott. Earlier today, they rescinded their qualifying offer for Crawford in a move that signaled they are going to take another direction for the two-way slot. It's telling that the Kings are moving on from Crawford so quickly, especially given their desperate need for more wing help. Crawford is a 6-foot-6 wing with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, fitting a major position of need for the Kings. He's also a pesky defender, another attribute that the Kings are trying to bring in as they build a defensive identity. But with Nique Clifford coming in this season as a rookie, Crawford's path to a roster spot got even more harder to envision. Crawford was also brought in under Monte McNair and the previous regime. McNair signed him after Crawford went undrafted last season, hoping to find another gem following the draft like he did in Keon Ellis. The signs that the Kings were moving on were there during the six Summer League games, which were possibly Crawford's last chance to show the Kings what he could bring after an early offseason of work. Crawford averaged just 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists on 35% shooting from the field and 36.4% from three in the exhibition games. The numbers tell one story, but his minutes tell even more. Crawford's minutes plummeted at the tail end of the tournament as the Kings were fighting for the championship. Game 1: 15:10 Game 2: 17:12 Game 3: 18:59 Game 4: 18:59 Game 5: 7:05 Game 6: 4:36 It's likely that the writing was on the wall part way through Summer League that Crawford would get his next opportunity elsewhere. Crawford will have a tough battle finding minutes in Houston, as the Rockets have a number of young and talented wings, but Crawford is ready to show that he can make it in the NBA, drawing inspiration from fellow teammates Keon Ellis and Isaac Jones, who got bumped up from two-way contracts to standard deals. While Crawford won't get that opportunity with the Kings, here's hoping he finds his footing in Houston.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' signing of quarterback Aaron Rodgers was an immediately polarizing move that did not sit well with large portions of the fan base. It also did not sit well with one of the team's all-time greatest players, four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Terry Bradshaw. Bradshaw initially referred to the signing of Rodgers as a "joke" and that he should "stay in California and go chew bark" in reference to Rodgers isolating himself in a darkness retreat last year. On Saturday, Rodgers finally had a chance to respond to Bradshaw and did so with a combination of taking the high road, and also trying to make light of it. “I whisper to the gods every single day. I’ve known Terry for a long time, being a part of Fox. Terry’s a legend. He’s an absolute legend. He won four Super Bowls. He’s had a legendary career in the media. But Terry, like a lot of people, doesn’t know me. And so, he’s got an idea of what he thinks about me based on what I’ve done, the documentary, what I’ve said, darkness retreat, whatever the hell you want to talk about. I’d love to get to know Terry on a deeper level. I feel like if he gave me a chance to get to know him, then we’d have a good friendship." He ended the answer by saying, "So, I’d love to get to know Terry on a deeper level if he’s open to it. And maybe we can go chew some bark or whatever the hell he’s talking about together.” The Steelers were in a pretty desperate quarterback situation this offseason after completely overhauling the position for a second year in a row. They missed out on the chance to re-sign Justin Fields, let Russell Wilson walk, missed out on every other veteran who changed teams and passed on the opportunity to select a quarterback near the top of a weak quarterback draft class. (They ultimately selected Ohio State's Will Howard in the sixth round.) The whole Rodgers saga has been quite a soap opera for the Steelers as they waited around for months while he decided on whether or not he wanted to play this season, and if he wanted to play for the Steelers. Add in the fact he has had a tendency to cause some off-field distractions with his comments and weekly "Pat McAfee Show" appearances, as well as the fact he will turn 42 years old this season and hasn't been a top-tier quarterback in three years, and a lot of Steelers fans — and former players — were put off by the idea. The only thing that will matter in the end, however, is how Rodgers plays on the field. He has said all of the right things since joining the team, and his new teammates have all spoken highly of him so far, but it will still come down to results on the field. The Steelers have not won a playoff game in eight years and are facing added pressure each year to end that drought. They are hoping Rodgers has one more good year in him to help them advance in the postseason.
According to some, throw out the idea that the Edmonton Oilers should pursue Max Pacioretty. A veteran forward who has earned over $63 million over the course of his NHL career has yet to sign an NHL contract and was recently mentioned in a post by David Staples as a possible fit. In a recent post, the Journal noted, “All of the top NHL unrestricted free agents have already signed contracts, but there’s one big name player still available that makes good sense for the Edmonton Oilers to pursue.” Responses have been varied, with a few quite vocal about the Oilers not following Staples’ advice. “In what world does this make sense?????” writes a commenter on a recent post for The Hockey Writers. Another commenter wrote, “Pacioretty is a good journeyman player but he is injury prone now, late in his career. Oilers might be lucky to get 40 games out of him. They should look elsewhere instead of taking a chance on Patches.” Tyler Yaremchuk of Oilers Nation chimed in and said, “He scored five goals in 37 games last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Can’t stay healthy, very old, very slow.” Yaremchuk then went on a rant, listing several Oilers forwards who would be better than Pacioretty. What About Pacioretty on a PTO? Is there any reason that a team that is looking to get younger and faster, and move out depth pieces that were older and less productive than expected, would revert back to last summer’s strategy? It seems like an odd choice on the surface. Something would have to happen that would make giving Pacioretty a look risk-free. That means only a PTO. Even at that point, should he agree, it would require him to be willing to sign a two-way contract for the league minimum.
What is going on with the Detroit Tigers right now? That's what the entire baseball world is wondering as the team that had been dominant throughout the first part of the season has crumbled in front of everyone's eyes. After being the first to win 60 games, they are stuck on that number, while three teams have surpassed them and four others have joined them at that mark. More News: Former Tigers All-Star Pitcher Gets Traded in Early Deadline Deal Entering Saturday's contest against the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays, the Tigers have lost 11 out of their last 12 games, showcasing an inability to score runs and prevent them that had not been on display during the first half. It's easy to understand why there might be panic about Detroit. Despite their incredible run during the back stretch of last season that took them one win away from reaching the ALCS, not many people expected this team to do much in 2025, pointing to their middling roster that was full of young and unproven talent. Before the All-Star break, not much went wrong even with all the injuries they suffered. But it's been a different story since then. More News: Tigers Could Have Fewer Options To Address Bullpen Needs Than Rivals Thankfully, the Tigers have a veteran manager in their dugout, and he is the right man to steer them out of this funk. "I've never been on a team that hasn't gone through a little bit of something at some point. There is no easy 162-game schedule," he said to reporters, including Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press. How does he aim to get his team back on track? By being steady and not reacting one way or another to what has happened. "A steady approach works. It's not always easy. It's not always the most popular because you want this massive reaction one way or the other. We've got to play the game that's in front of us today," Hinch added. "... The steadiness is what these guys are looking for." Detroit's Major League roster has had to grow up quickly. Still in the midst of a prolonged rebuild, all of a sudden they were thrust into the spotlight with their late-season run in 2024 that carried over into the first part of this year. It's uncharted territory for many in organization, and that includes the decision makers at the top. More News: Tigers Land Two Major Upgrades From Diamondbacks in This Trade Idea Hinch doesn't fall into that category, though. He's been there before, previously leading an unproven group on an unproven franchise to sustained success. "I've managed 100-plus win teams that have gone through six- and seven- and eight-game losing streaks, or lost 12 of 13. You don't think of that because we forget over time. There's going to be a time that we all forget about this. It's just not right now when you're going through it. You feel like you're getting suffocated day by day where the first thing that goes wrong brings back the thoughts of previous games. Welcome to sports. It's an emotional ride. Those that stay steady will survive," Hinch stated. The Tigers are looking to do exactly that, and if they can come out of this on the other side, then they should be much better for it. For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.