October 19th - ESPN reporters Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst recently wrote an article discussing the latest news on NBA teams for the new season.
Among them, the reporters discussed the Hawks' contract extension negotiations with their players.
Brian Windhorst: Trae Young, the team's core player, has one year left on his contract and can re-sign at any time before June 30th next year. However, his contract extension with the Hawks is more uncertain. Unlike Kristaps Porzingis, whose contract expires at the end of the season, Young has a $49 million player option for next season, and he hopes to opt out of the option and sign a new max contract with the Hawks.
In previous years, multiple All-Star players could usually expect a supermax contract extension after their first max contract expired. However, in the era of the luxury tax cap and with the Hawks needing to invest in young players, Young's situation is somewhat awkward—he is an All-Star player but not a superstar, and a supermax contract, which accounts for 30% of the salary cap, should belong to a superstar. In the coming years, we may see more and more near-superstar players seeking second-maximum contracts.
