Trae Young, Hawks Reportedly Won't Reach Contract Extension Before Start of NBA Season
The Atlanta Hawks do not plan to extend Trae Young before the start of the 2025-26 season, The Athletic's Fred Katz and Joe Vardon reported Thursday.
Young is set to make just under $46 million this season in the final guaranteed year of his current contract. He holds a player option worth about $49 million for 2026-27, per Spotrac.
The Hawks have until June 30 of next year to extend Young and prevent him declining the option to test free agency.
Young, who is eligible for a four-year, $229 million extension, has driven buzz around his ongoing contract negotiations with a series of cryptic social media posts.
These included a comment on Micah Parsons' trade request to the Dallas Cowboys, to which Young responded: "This why you pay the man early, when someone will take less early to stay in a place he wanted to be forever, you do it."
Young sparked more rumors with another post on X earlier this week:
The Hawks are set to tip off the regular season next Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. ET home game against the Toronto Raptors.
Katz and Vardon reported Thursday that the Hawks are "waiting to evaluate how a new group meshes together" and have "high hopes for this season" after acquiring Kristaps Porziņģis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard this summer.
Porziņģis, who is currently set to hit unrestricted free agency next offseason, recently told Katz he wants to "see how the year goes" before signing an extension.
Young hasn't sounded as enthusiastic about playing out the season without a new deal.
When asked in September if there was "disappointment" surrounding his lack of an extension before training camp, Young answered: "Disappointment? I don't know [about] the word disappointment. I mean, maybe, for sure."
Young, who turned 27 in September, averaged 24.2 points and an NBA-high 11.6 assists through 76 games last season as the Hawks finished short of the playoffs with a 40-42 record.
Atlanta has yet to make it past the first round since the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, which the team lost to the Milwaukee Bucks after Young was sidelined with a right ankle injury.
If the Hawks believe they are on track to make a push for a deeper playoff run in 2026, the team might prioritize extending Young before another strong postseason hikes his asking price even higher next spring.
