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Trae Young Enters Next Season With Extra Motivation

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Michael Kobrinsky | Last updated Sep 25, 2025 2:03 PM ET

Trae Young‘s name has floated around trade rumors for several seasons. NBA reporters and analysts suspected the Atlanta Hawks could have parted ways with their star before the 2025-26 campaign. However, no move materialized. Instead, Atlanta acquired Kristaps Porziņģis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Luke Kennard this summer to bolster its core.

Young enters his eighth NBA season with high hopes, looking to lead the Hawks on a deep playoff run. The four-time All-Star also has a player option for the 2026-27 season and is eligible for a supermax contract extension if he makes an All-NBA team.

Trae Young Enters Next Season With Extra Motivation

Young’s Best Chance to Make Another Deep Playoff Run

In an ESPN poll from August, Young received a vote for the next superstar to ask for a trade. However, the Hawks’ moves this summer suggest they feel confident their superstar wants to win in Atlanta next season. Young expressed confidence in his 2024-25 exit interview when asked if he felt he could win a championship with the Hawks.

“Of course…I’ve won here before, I haven’t won a championship but I’ve achieved a lot of things here. I know what it takes. I definitely feel I can win here.”

This is the deepest roster Young has played with since the Hawks’ 2021 Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Jalen Johnson and Porziņģis form more top-end scoring talent than John Collins and Clint Capela. Dyson Daniels and Alexander-Walker form one of the top defensive duos in the league, whereas the 2020-21 squad did not have a premier perimeter stopper. Onyeka Okongwu and Porziņģis guarantee 48 minutes of great center play and could even share the court in a double-big lineup. Young knows the opportunity presented in front of him.

Trae Young says the Hawks are built to compete for a championship this year pic.twitter.com/Z7YH9ebXxK

— Ball Exclusives (@ballexclusives) September 10, 2025

Atlanta paired its superstar with a promising young core and a group of reliable veterans this summer. Now, it is up to Young to lead the squad.

Money is a Big Motivator

Young’s contract situation is not set in stone after this season. He has a $48.9 million player option for the 2026-27 campaign. If he declines, Atlanta’s star enters unrestricted free agency in two summers. Young is eligible to sign a four-year, $229 million maximum contract extension this summer, but that seems unlikely to happen before this campaign begins.

When De’Aaron Fox inked his four-year, $229 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs earlier this offseason, it painted a clearer picture that Young might feel he deserves more. Young is a four-time All-Star with a conference finals appearance, while Fox, a one-time All-Star, has not made it out of the first round of the playoffs. They both made All-NBA once in their careers, but Young can get a bigger payday if he earns that honor this season. In that scenario, his contract extension number bumps up to a supermax five-year, $345 million contract.

Two All-NBA candidates, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, are likely to miss most, if not all, of the 2025-26 campaign. Young averaged a league-best 11.6 assists last season but shot a career-low 41.1% from the field. The Hawks’ improved shooting around their star could bump his assist numbers even more and give him more room to operate. The former fifth pick in the 2018 draft could earn himself a monster payday and prove why the Hawks need to avoid a possible bidding war in free agency in two years.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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