ESPN Insider Warns Hawks Over Giving Trae Young $222 Million Contract Extension

The Atlanta Hawks have had a pretty serious offseason, with some acquisitions that may finally propel them out of the play-in. But none of those acquisitions mean a thing if they don’t manage to extend their franchise cornerstone Trae Young.

The 26-year-old superstar is eligible for a four-year $222 million extension in Atlanta, which averages out to $55.5 million per year for the seven-year veteran. That super max deal would be a nice payday for him. However, is Ice Trae really worth that price tag? NBA Insider Bobby Marks doesn’t think so.

“I would approach it with an extension but not at the 4 (years) for $222 (million) number here,” stated Marks. “I think we are at a day and age of roster building where you have to be extremely careful when you hand out max contracts, where you are averaging out $55 million,” Marks explained on the ESPN broadcast.

It’s a strong point. Young has been the core of the Hawks’ offense for the last few years. If ATL wants to be competitive, they need to dish some of those funds around to role players. They’ve already made some great pickups like Kristaps Porziņģis and three-point specialist Luke Kennard.

“Trae Young is certainly an All-Star level player. I’m not putting him up there in a Top 15, maybe even Top 20 in the NBA. I want to see how this roster develops,” stated Marks, who credited the Hawks for picking up the aforementioned players to help them get over the hump.

“Dyson Daniels is also up for an extension here. I’m waiting out this season here,” he added, reiterating that as great as Trae is, that supermax extension just doesn’t seem logical.

The Hawks finished 40-42 last year and did manage to compete in the Play-In tournament. But they were unable to defeat the Magic or the Heat, and were sent home early because of it.

Sure, these additions will make the Hawks a tad more competitive for the 25-26 season. That said, Young has been carrying the squad on his back for the last few years and was battling an Achilles tendinitis for the latter half of the season.

Trae will hopefully get the rest he needs this summer, especially considering the East will be in need of a new king due to what happened to the Celtics and the Pacers this past postseason. Could the Hawks be that team?

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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