The head coach of the Hawks, Quin Snyder, joined The Steakhouse on Friday morning to discuss why Trae Young must continue progressing in order to be a more competitive organization in the East.
"[Trae] is committed to doing the things that we need him to do for him, not only to be a leader but a catalyst," Snyder said. "If there are some things he can embrace, both offensively and defensively in our style of play of ball, the best beneficiary of that is Trae Young."
Not much more could be said about what sort of offensive player Trae Young has been over his career in Atlanta. He is the best pure passer in the game and leads the NBA with 3,868 total assists since he joined the NBA in 2018 -- 200+ more than second place. His scoring is also squarely among the best in the Association, and the seventh-highest in that same period.
Trae is set to be joined by a plethora of tremendously talented players that should contribute to the growth in two-way effectiveness. The Hawks added Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher to play alongside the star point guard, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela.
"The way they play collectively together, Trae is one of the ones that can drive that," Snyder continued. "If he's taking more catch-and-shoot threes, that means he's passed the ball and he's worked to space, he got a couple of back-cuts in practice yesterday. [It's about] just being engaged in the game in a different way."
Note the term "two-way."
The Hawks were one of the worst teams in the NBA on the defensive side of the ball, and have been consistent over the last few years. If Trae Young can add that mindset to the other end of the court, the Hawks will be a better basketball team, guaranteed.
"That same mindset that I just described offensively, that's what we have to have defensively," he said. "We're not going to be a dominant defensive team, we need to be a better defensive team. But what we need to be is a really good team, collectively. That's where our focus has to go and Trae, as one of the five guys on the court, has to carry his weight with that, too."
The NBA offseason is in its final stages and Snyder is ready for the season to get here. He signed off with a simple thought shared by Hawks fans everywhere, "Let's get to work."