Trae Young is having an incredibly tough year on the Atlanta Hawks this season. Though his on-court performances seem to be turning a corner as the Hawks record gradually improves, the team is in quite a deep hole with managing their star.
They went all-out to get him a co-star in Dejounte Murray, though the pairing hasn’t worked out as well as expected. The year has been filled with speculation around the relationship between head coach Nate McMillan and Young, but it seems Young had burned a more significant bridge with Travis Schlenk, the former President of Basketball Operations with the Hawks.
Schlenk recently stepped down from his role because of the excessive influence of Nick Ressler, the son of owner Tony Ressler. Schlenk didn’t fire McMillan during his spat with Young earlier in the season and resigned on December 21, with his relationship with the franchise point guard having soured during the 2022 playoffs, according to a new report.
“The relationship between Schlenk and Young has deteriorated over recent months. Issues began following Game 2 of the playoff series with the Heat last year. In the return to Atlanta, Young chartered a private flight and did not inform the team, according to several people familiar with the situation. In the middle of the playoffs, Young was fined.” (h/t AJC Sports)
Schlenk didn’t approve of the Dejounte Murray trade, so this incident with Young followed by a very expensive move he didn’t sanction basically wrote the script for his departure.
Trae Young’s Off-Court Influence
Trae Young chartering a private plane for himself isn’t a good sign mainly because teams travel together for a reason. His attitude within the Hawks has become an issue in recent months, with the McMillan incident where he refused to participate in shootaround showing that he might not be the easiest player to control. Even teammates have allegedly been siding with McMillan over Trae.
GM Landry Fields is assuming Schlenk’s role in the interim and has a strong relationship with Young, which could be a reason why his form has started skyrocketing in January.
Young’s all-NBA ability makes it incredibly hard to just cut ties with him, despite ongoing trade rumors. Hopefully, the new regime can help him be more of a team player as the Hawks look to become a contender that the East reckons with for the foreseeable future.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
