NBA Notes: Hawks, Trae Young, Rockets, James Harden, Heat

Hawks

While the Lakers reportedly have held discussions about what it would take to land Hawks guard Trae Young (full post), there doesn’t seem to be anything happening between Young and the Hawks, per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report/TNT.

“I think there’s more there’s more smoke with (Mavericks star Kyrie Irving) than Trae Young right now,” Haynes said on the This League Uncut Podcast, with Marc Stein of The Stein Line. “From what I’ve heard, there’s nothing brewing with Trae Young and the Hawks. Like there hasn’t been any meeting or anything like that to request a trade. There’s nothing like that has happened with Trae, nothing.”

• Young and coach Quin Synder seemed to be on the same page and looking forward to trying again next season, a league source told Hoops Wire. In short, there is no sense that the Hawks are aiming to move Young this offseason.

Rockets

Clippers forward Paul George said the Rockets should stick with their youth movement and not aim for a reunion with 76ers star James Harden, who’s expected to opt out of his contract and enter free agency.

George made the comments to Rockets guard Jalen Green on Podcast P with Paul George.

“Personally, I wouldn’t (pursue Harden),” George told Green, via Matt John of Heavy Sports. “At this point, that’s your [team]. Like, you’re the King of Houston. They made their decision … on who the future is. When you pick a guy with the fourth pick, he’s our guy. They full-on committed to who the future is. Like you got to go through this. You got to go through being double-teamed, triple-teamed, being a target every time. You gotta go through that.”

George went on to say that the Rockets need to let their young players develop.

“You bring on someone like James who’s such a ball-dominant player like that’s gonna hinder your growth a little bit,” George told Green. “You know what I mean? Regardless of how it can elevate you on another level of him teaching you and you learning off of him, I feel like for you, you’ve already been through the fire. So, let you continue to learn.”

• Houston continues to receive trade offers for the No. 4 overall pick, as we relayed here.

Heat

Star wing Jimmy Butler didn’t appear all that concerned with the Heat’s inability to close out the Eastern Conference finals, losing to the Celtics in Game 4 at home.

“We are going to listen to some music, we’re going to drink some beers back there, I’m going to go have some wine,” Butler said, via Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

Butler predicted the Heat will indeed emerge from the series to face the Nuggets in the Finals.

“The only thing I’m going to say is, ‘We’ll be OK,’” Butler said. “Let’s get back to doing what we’ve always done to get us to this point. Continually have belief in one another, knowing that we are going to win, and we will.”

We have more on the Heat’s Game 4 loss right here.