Nick Kayal explained why he thinks the Atlanta Hawks will soon be a desired destination for big-name NBA free agents. Of course it all starts and ends with the star that already resides in Atlanta, Trae Young.
Young came into the NBA already having doubters and haters because of his size and stature. However, after averaging 29 points and nine rebounds in just his second year in the league, being voted an All-Star starter, and entertaining Atlanta Hawks and NBA fans worldwide it seemed like Trae Young was only starting to get the love he deserved.
However, this year it seemed to be a different story, and the Trae Young hate continued. After a busy offseason by general manager Travis Schlenk and the Atlanta Hawks bringing in guys like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, and more the Hawks had playoff expectations going into this season. While the Hawks did start 3-1 their season quickly took a turn for the worst after major injuries, a 14-20 start, and a coaching change put the Atlanta Hawks at rock bottom, and even though Trae Young’s assist-to-turnover ratio was better, and his overall number had improved he still took a lot of heat. During the Hawks’ slump Trae faced questions about his shot selection, if he makes his teammates better, and if his stats are just empty stats.
But once Nate McMillan took the reigns as the head coach, they traded Rajon Rondo for Lou Williams at the trade deadline, and the Hawks got healthy. The Hawks made a playoff push and after averaging 29 points, nearly 10 assists (9.8), and shooting 44 percent from the field in the Hawks 4-1 series win over the New York Knicks in the first round of this year’s NBA playoffs, Trae Young is finally getting the national respect he deserves.
Nick Kayal feels that Trae Young emerged as a star in that Knicks series.
“What I saw from that New York series was a star that emerged to the point where nobody now has any excuse nationally not to acknowledge Trae as one of the premiere players in this league," Kayal said. "Not just an All-Star, but a star.”
However, not only does Nick feel that Trae emerged as a full-blown star after his performance in the first round, but he also believes that Trae Young has now done enough to entice big-name free agents to the city of Atlanta.
“I think people want to play with Trae Young,” Kayal said. “I do think there are guys around the league this summer that are gonna say I could see myself running with Trae Young. I damned sure would like to live in Atlanta, Georgia.”
Nick also basically said that he believes that the Atlanta Hawks will be a desired destination in the summer of 2021 and the summer of 2022. Nick had Atlanta Hawks beat writer of the AJC, Sarah Spencer, on later in the show and asked Sarah if she thinks Trae Young has done enough to draw in major free agents.
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s just Trae's performance," Spencer said. "I also think it’s just that a lot of times being that destination is kind of as straightforward as how competitive is this team.”
Well, the Atlanta Hawks are a team that seems to be on the rise, and a young team with a chance to be competitive for years to come.
Now, even though Nick Kayal doesn’t believe Trae Young can win a title by himself, he also knows no one can or has, and he also believes that Trae Young and this Atlanta Hawks team will have the cap space to sign a big name free agent. The only question is will Trae Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and maybe John Collins be able to recruit another star to Atlanta? The journey for not only the Atlanta Hawks in these playoffs continue tomorrow, but their journey to show other stars in the NBA that Atlanta is the place to be continues tomorrow in game one of their second-round matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers as well.
