Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young was asked about his goals for the 2024-25 season during the team’s annual media day, and he kept it simple.
“My goal every year is to win. I don’t play basketball just to play; my goal is to win,” Young said via Zach Langley on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Every night I step out there, I feel like we can win. I want to be better than we were last year.
“We weren’t in the playoffs, we need to be back in the playoffs this year. Regardless of how anybody looks at our team, I feel like we need to be there. It’s my job to do everything I can to be ready and also lift my teammates up as much as I can to make sure we’re all ready each and every night.”
After leading the Atlanta Hawks to three consecutive playoff appearances, including a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21, they missed it last season after losing to the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament.
It didn’t help the Atlanta Hawks either that Trae Young had to miss a huge chunk of last season due to left hand surgery.
Atlanta Hawks plan to make noise in 2024-25
The Atlanta Hawks retooled their roster this summer by drafting Zaccharie Risacher using their No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft and trading Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller, EJ Liddell, and two future first-round picks.
Following the departure of Dejounte Murray, the Atlanta Hawks are banking on Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jalen Johnson, De’Andre Hunter, and Onyeka Okongwu to have big years while they monitor Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher’s development.
Risacher has shown some promise during the NBA 2K25 Summer League, averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in two games.
