On Wednesday, Atlanta Hawks fans collectively exhaled when Trae Young's cryptic social media announcement turned out to be a tea ad. However, there is still some question over Young's future in Atlanta considering his current contract situation, and he's not the only Atlanta player who fans would like to see signed to an extension.
Recently, Bobby Marks and Tim Bontemps of ESPN broke down what Hawks guard and reigning Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels will be looking for on his next deal.
“His agent, Daniel Moldovan, is using the five-year, $150 million extension Jalen Suggs signed last year as the comparison for Daniels, while also assessing Trae Young's uncertain future in Atlanta,” reported Marks and Bontemps.
Last year, the Hawks acquired Daniels in a deal that sent Dejounte Murray back to New Orleans. The Hawks eventually emerged as the clear winners of that trade, with Daniels blossoming into arguably the best perimeter defender in the NBA, earning First Team All-Defense honors in the process, and also showing an expanded offensive game, which no doubt benefited from playing next to a talent like Young.
An interesting time for the Hawks
The Young and Daniels contract talks come at a time when the Hawks are looking forward to their most anticipated season in years, having added considerable talent to the roster this offseason in the form of Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard, and rookie Asa Newell.
The hope is that these players, combined with projected improvement from Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Zaccharie Risacher, will be able to vault the Hawks into the upper echelon in the Eastern Conference, especially considering the high profile injuries that the conference is currently dealing with.
Of course, the NBA's current second apron rules make it so that teams are punished for putting together good rosters, so if the Hawks' vision comes to fruition, it's likely that they'll have to part with at least one of those key pieces eventually.
However, for now, Hawks fans will be looking forward to a season in which they'll hope to finally get out of the play-in game carousel.
