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Trae Young is reportedly enthusiastic to welcome and work with Quin Snyder after the former Utah Jazz coach was hired to take over in Atlanta on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Part of that enthusiasm stems from a conversation that Young had with fellow All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who played for Snyder for the first five seasons of his career with the Jazz.
During the conversation, Mitchell—now with the Cleveland Cavaliers—spoke wonders of his former coach and “profusely praised” him, per Wojnarowski.
Snyder, 56, will now look to salvage what has been a difficult season for the Hawks so far.
Over his eight seasons as the coach in Utah, Snyder made six consecutive playoff appearances and helped the organization to three Northwest Division titles in 2017, 2021 and 2022.
The Jazz even secured the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference during the 2020-21 season, going 52-20. They underachieved, however, never making it past the second round of the playoffs during Snyder’s tenure.
Snyder’s time in Utah coincided with Mitchell’s rise to NBA superstardom. In their five years together Mitchell was a three-time All-Star selection and a member of the 2018 All-Rookie first team.
Snyder resigned as head coach shortly after a first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks last season. Soon after, both Mitchell and Utah’s star center, Rudy Gobert, were traded, commencing a rebuild for the organization.
Snyder will have his work cut out for him when he gets to Atlanta. The Hawks are currently eighth in the East and sit 3.5 games behind the New York Knicks in the No. 6 seed, out of the play-in.
He’ll be replacing the recently fired Nate McMillan. Snyder also has a history in Atlanta working as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer for a season.
Snyder will have a star in Young who is averaging 26.9 points and 10.2 assists, the highest mark of his career. Young is eager to regain the heights of a few years ago when Atlanta made it to the conference finals.
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