{"id":154210,"date":"2025-08-11T04:17:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T08:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=154210"},"modified":"2025-08-11T04:17:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T08:17:40","slug":"hawks-trae-young-ultimatum-will-cost-them-over-121-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/11\/hawks-trae-young-ultimatum-will-cost-them-over-121-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawks’ Trae Young Ultimatum Will Cost Them Over $121 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA<\/strong> \u2013 The Atlanta Hawks<\/a> have given Trae Young<\/a> the most versatile roster of his career. The front office surrounded him with two-way wings and added Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is<\/a> in a major trade. Young has never played alongside a scoring forward with Porzi\u0146\u0123is\u2019 shooting and size. The fit could open parts of the floor he has never been able to attack consistently. In a weakened Eastern Conference, the Hawks suddenly look like a dark-horse threat for a top-four seed. If the pieces click, the stage could be set for Young\u2019s second All-NBA season \u2014 and with it, a financial ripple effect that could shake Atlanta\u2019s cap sheet. The Hawks are essentially taking a gamble worth $121 million by not extending Trae Young now.<\/p>\n

Hawks’ Trae Young Ultimatum Will Cost Them Over $121 Million<\/h2>\n

The Current Offer on the Table<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Trae
Dec 19, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) drives in between Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) and forward Jalen Johnson (1) in the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Young is eligible for a four-year, $229 million contract extension. That figure represents his maximum allowable deal under the NBA\u2019s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Despite that, no extension talks are taking place. Jake Fischer, the People’s Insider revealed<\/a> that Young and the Hawks view waiting from different perspectives. The 26-year-old is prepared to play out the 2025\u201326 season before deciding on his $48.9 million player option for 2026\u201327. Despite that resolve, Young is disappointed that the Hawks front office have not broached extension talks.<\/p>\n

This patience carries a price tag. If Young earns All-NBA honors, he could become supermax eligible next summer. That deal is projected to be worth roughly $350 million over five years \u2014 more than $121 million higher than his current extension limit. For a front office balancing long-term flexibility, the math is impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n

The Stakes of an All-NBA Season<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Hawks’ $121 million gamble hinges on more than Trae Young’s individual performance. Atlanta needs wins. If the team pushes deep into the playoff picture, voters could reward Young\u2019s role in their rise. The league\u2019s new CBA incentives make that kind of season financially transformative.<\/p>\n

If the Hawks stall, the equation changes. Without All-NBA status, Young would be capped at the $229 million extension figure. That could push both sides toward a decision sooner, especially if trade rumors resurface. It’s\u00a0 possible that the Hawks will begin extension talks during the season if the team starts the season strongly.<\/p>\n

A Future That Could Test Atlanta\u2019s Resolve<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the most ambitious version of this season, Young dominates, Porzi\u0146\u0123is stays healthy, and Atlanta contends. That path leads straight to the supermax conversation if Young chooses to go for more money. It forces the Hawks to commit over $121 million more than they could today.<\/p>\n

But if Young declines his player option in 2026 without an extension, he could test free agency as one of the most sought-after guards in the league. In that scenario, the Hawks’ gamble becomes more than a hassle over figures \u2014 it becomes a turning point for the franchise\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ATLANTA \u2013 The Atlanta Hawks have given Trae Young the most versatile roster of his career. The front office surrounded him with two-way wings and added Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is in a major trade. Young has never played alongside a scoring forward with Porzi\u0146\u0123is\u2019 shooting and size. The fit could open parts of the floor he has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":154215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,4,1608,3],"tags":[50219,1946,2113,1349],"class_list":["post-154210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-news","tag-2025-nba-free-agents","tag-all-nba","tag-nba-contract-extension","tag-trae-young"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154218,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154210\/revisions\/154218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}