Trae has to grow up...or he'll be the next to go
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 6:28 pm
CBS SportsHawks star Trae Young needs to alter his game following Nate McMillan's firing, or he could be next to go
It's also the job of the next coach to get through to Young
The Altanta Hawks fired Nate McMillan on Tuesday, and it was a long time coming. Coach apologists are going to say McMillan is a scapegoat. He isn't. If you can't pull a top-10 offense, at a bare minimum, out of a team led by Trae Young, you've got to go.
That said, Young has some culpability here, too, and if he isn't willing to change his game for the next coach that comes in, he could be the next guy heading out of Atlanta. This isn't about Young's shooting, which is appreciably down this season and has never been as good as his reputation would suggest. This is about his continued disinterest in being an active off-ball participant.
Part of a coach's job, of course, is to sell the best player on a system that benefits the whole, the way that Steve Kerr did with Stephen Curry...The hope is that a new coach will be able to open Young's mind to a different way, and in turn, maximize the Hawks offensively. Frankly, Young could end up requesting a trade before Atlanta might ever look to move him on its own. Surely you could make a case that the winds are starting to blow that way. McMillan is the second coach he's clashed with.
The Hawks want this to work with Young. Firing McMillan is their first step in trying to make that happen. If Young doesn't change, however, and the next coach produces the same disappointing results, what then? Will Young ever buy into a role that asks him not just to concede some control (which he has proven willing to do with Murray), but actually to do something other than spatially spectate in these moments?
It takes real commitment to put the energy in to move, consistently and at full speed, off the ball without a guarantee that you'll get it back. Does Young possess the kind of humility required to run away from the ball, if only for the purpose of taking defenders with him? That kind of genuine interest in winning on someone else's terms is a rare trait in such exceedingly talented players who have every right to believe they are always the best option. It's hard for a player like Young to see, especially when the Hawks were the second-best offense in the league just a year ago.
The Hawks were rolled out of the first round by Miami last season because Young was forced to give up the ball and then didn't serve as anything other than a statue once he did so.
Bottom line: In today's NBA, it might be impossible to win at the highest level without thinking, and playing, more collectively.
The Hawks do have capable players in this regard. Onyeka Okongwu is a good passing and screening big, a more graceful Kevon Looney if you will. De'Andre Hunter has ball skills. Obviously, Murray does, too. But Young is the sun. Everything revolves around him. If he doesn't buy in, nobody will. At this point, Atlanta will have to start imagining a new life without the guy they long ago planned on leading them into what was supposed to be a bright future.