Hawks trade news: Trae Young signs extension worth up to $207 million

Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young has agreed to a five-year, $207 million designated rookie maximum extension deal. However, there is one important incentive to this contract. If the All-Star guard is selected to one of the three All-NBA teams, the 30 percent escalator clause in his contract would guarantee the $172 million base pay would increase to as much as $207 million. Plus, the five-year deal includes an early termination option at the end of the fourth season. Based on the 22-year-old guard’s current contract, he earned $6,571,800 last season and is set to make $8,326,471 next season. His new contract will begin for the 2022-23 season and end after the 2026-27 season.

Furthermore, Young helped the 2020-21 Hawks finish 41-31 (.569), ranking first in the Southeast Division and fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. This was the first time in three seasons the Hawks made the playoffs. In the 2020-21 season, in 63 games played, Young averaged 25.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 9.4 assists per game. He also shot 43.8 percent from the field. Moreover, although Young ranked third in the league in turnovers (261)  last season, he led the league in made free throws in the regular season (484).

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— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 3, 2021

After the regular season, Young’s success on the stat sheet led to fans wondering just how deep into the playoffs he could carry his team. Expectations were low after the Hawks defeated the New York Knicks in five games of the first round of the playoffs. Against the favored Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals, he scored a total of 203 points in this series, averaging 29 points, 2.6 rebounds and 10.9 assists per game in 39.6 minutes played per game. The fifth-seeded Hawks went on to upset the first-seeded 76ers on the road in Game 7.

Unfortunately for Atlanta’s fanbase, the team’s underdog story came to an end, after the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Hawks four games to two in the Eastern Conference Finals. In the 2018 NBA Draft, Young was selected fifth by the Dallas Mavericks. Though, the Mavs traded him and a 2019 first-round pick to the Hawks for Slovenian guard Luka Doncic. Thus far, this trade has worked out terrific for both organizations. Regarding the salary cap, Atlanta has $67,645,709 available in cap space. Their current luxury tax space is $4,154,466.