Despite a wildly inconsistent season for the Hawks, they managed to secure the 7th seed on Tuesday with a win over the Miami Heat. Anyone that has been following the Hawks, they’ll know what a miracle it is that they are where they are, especially considering the rumors about Trae Young.
Recently, the star guard has been thrust into all kinds of trade rumors, with many insiders and league sources questioning his leadership and chemistry as a teammate. But after yesterday’s impressive win, Hawks GM Landry Fields laid down the facts about Young and shot down the noise about a potential breakup.
“To just flippantly have something come out like it did, it’s unbelievable to me,” said Fields. “That’s why I say all that is noise and completely unmerited. I tell players like Trae, I tell players like Dejounte whenever things come out that’s not part of what we’re trying to do…”
“To just flippantly have something come out like it did…it’s unbelievable to me…all that is noise and completely unmerited”@ATLHawks General Manager, Landry Fields, disputes yesterday's reports about Trae Young's future@TheFrankIsola | @Scalabrine pic.twitter.com/Uhm7mM2KBm
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) April 12, 2023
Trae Young has really taken a beating in terms of his reputation and status as an elite-level point guard. After his run to the East Finals, fans were expecting more from the Hawks and their failure to deliver is being taken as a slight on Trae’s capabilities as a leader and stabilizer.
Now, though, the Hawks have a chance to change the narrative with some key wins in the postseason.
Trae Is Not Worried About The Trade Buzz
Trae was picked 5th overall in the 2018 draft as part of an infamous swap between the Mavericks and Hawks on draft night. Remember, Atlanta could have picked up Luka Doncic instead had they decided not to slide back.
Either way, the Hawks are stuck with who they’ve got and Young isn’t letting any of it get to his head.
“It could be false, could be true, you never know,” Young said via Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “It’s hard – you can’t look at it. Especially as the player at the moment, you can’t look at what’s gonna come next year. After the game, if the game doesn’t go your way tonight, what’s gonna happen? Like, you can’t focus on things like that. That messes up your head and then you’re not ready to play. So, me, I’m not worried about that. I’m gonna let my game play. After the season, whatever happens, happens. I mean, I’m focused on the next task at hand.”
Expectations couldn’t be lower for the Hawks heading into this postseason. With a first-round matchup against the Boston Celtics, many fans will be surprised if they win more than a single game in the series.
But we’ve seen the Hawks make a run before, and they have the talent (on paper, at least) to surprise a lot of teams this year as well.
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