More comments from the superstar point guard.
Trae Young will step foot on the court in his seventh year in the NBA in just a few short weeks, and with the Hawks at the center of a lot of offseason noise, Young holds a unique and clearly popular perspective. Young, the three-time All-Star, holds a lot of weight with any of his public comments as the franchise pillar of the Atlanta Hawks since being drafted fifth overall in 2018.
DJ Saddiqi of Forbes and Responsible Gambler had a chance to chat with him one-on-one and ask him about his personal ambitions, team’s ambitions, and his overall thoughts about 2024 no. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher among other topics.
Young was asked about Risacher, and he noted that the French international is ‘taller’ than his listed height and has ‘a lot of skill.’ Risacher is listed at 6’9 per Basketball-Reference, and his size and length will be a big boon for the Hawks in the upcoming seasons.
“Zach is going to be an unbelievable player,” said Young. “He’s very young, he’s only 19. He’s going to play most of the season as a 19-year-old. He’s very talented, he’s taller in person. He can shoot it and he has a lot of skill. My first impressions are that he’s going to be great and he has a lot of upside to him. Looking forward to playing with him this season.”
The Hawks finished a disappointing 36-46 and in tenth in the Eastern Conference a season ago, and they were bounced in the Play-In Tournament by the Chicago Bulls. When asked about the team’s aim for next season, Young responded, “just to improve on what we did last year, just make it to the playoffs and find a way to get there. We just have to be better taking it game by game. That’s the motto, just get back there.”
“It’s a lot of things that go into having success and getting that far,” continued Young about sustaining success into the playoffs. “I don’t know if it’s just one thing, but we have a group that just needs to focus on taking it day by day. We have a young team. I have a totally different team than I did back then. We have to have a whole different mindset, a whole different approach to what we do every day to get as far as we want to go. I don’t know if there’s one key [to making another deep postseason run].”
Part of the reason for the unfortunate 2023-24 season was the untimely injuries the team sustained along the way, including a left hand injury that knocked Young out for over a month. “I missed 28 games, the most games I missed in any season,” says Young. “That can hurt you.”
With a healthy Young, a younger complement of role players, and a renewed focus after the long offseason, the Hawks will look to bounce back and challenge in a deep Eastern Conference this fall and next spring.