Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young has started off the season in terrible fashion. While the former All-NBA player has averaged 20.5 points and 10.5 assists over the first two games, he's only shooting 22 percent from the field, including 21 percent from the 3-point line. Young also has 11 turnovers for through two games as well.
Not shockingly given that performance from their star, the Hawks are winless to start the season and fans are worried about the team going forward.
The former lottery pick started off the season extremely slowly as well a year ago, including games wherein he shot 31 and 29 percent from the floor. Eventually, he was able to turn the corner and go back to his All-Star level on the stat sheet but the Hawks were never able to pick up their play as a collective.
The team ended up having a crisis of faith that hasn't ended. Dejounte Murray's extension seemingly caused that to subside somewhat, but things aren't perfect in Atlanta. If the Hawks are unable to make a deep playoff run this season, core players could end up on the trading block this offseason.
Can Trae Young, Hawks bounce back after awful start?
If you are talking about statistical performance, Trae Young will most likely recover and post All-Star-worthy numbers. We saw it last season, so there's not reason to expect it won't be more of the same. Unfortunately, the same might also be true of the Hawks as they try to get back to the postseason.
Even beyond the poor start to the 2023-24 season, the Hawks don't have the make-up of a Top 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. Yes, there are 80 games left to play for Atlanta but, barring a trade, it's difficult to find a world where the Hawks get to 45+ wins, something that was true before an 0-2 start and even more so now.
If it's going to be a positive conclusion this season for the Hawks, though, Young will have to be substantially better. And all eyes will be on the guard to see if he can rebound from a slow start as he did last season.
