The NBA season may be over, but the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell are putting work during the NBA’s offseason.
The two were spotted in an open run at Life Time Athletic in New York. They participated at Chris Brickley’s Black Ops.
NBA workout season has begun & Black Ops action at Lifetime Fitness in Manhattan is A THING!
New York Knicks’ Dennis Smith & Julius Randle are Playing. So is Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young, Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell & NBA free agents Lance Stephenson & Carmelo Anthony.
Trae Young’s First Season
Trae Young finished his rookie campaign with the Atlanta Hawks averaging 19.1 points and 8.1 assists per game with a 53.9 true shooting percentage.
The Atlanta Hawks may have finished with the fifth worst record in the NBA last season, the tide seems to be changing for this up and coming team. With Young and John Collins as the franchise cornerstones.
A runner-up for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award, Young transitioned to the NBA after starring at Oklahoma while averaging 27 points, 8 assists and nearly 4 rebounds per game.
Donovan Mitchell’s Utah Jazz
Donovan Mitchell was also spotted at Lifetime Fitness.
Mitchell, the runner up for last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year Award was the 13th overall pick out of the University of Louisville in 2017.
Mitchell averaged 20.5 points per game on 43.7 percent shooting as a rookie while leading Utah to the second round of the playoffs.
“I was not supposed to be here,” Donovan Mitchell said in a recent Players Tribune article.
“I think that’s why I appreciate it so much. “There were even times where I told myself, ‘You’re not good enough.’ And I’m talking about when I was at Louisville. But we’re here.”
His rise in the NBA mirrors recently retired NBA icon, Dwyane Wade. They were overlooked in comparison to players in their respective draft classes.
If you recall, Wade got the world’s attention in game one of the Heat’s first round playoff series against the New Orleans Hornets in 2004.
With 1.3 seconds remaining and tied at 79 apiece, Wade hit Hornets point guard Baron Davis with an ankle breaker crossover and drove to the basket making a running jumper amid the outstretched arm of Hornets center Jamaal Magloire. The basket gave the Heat a 81-79 victory and Miami would end up winning the series in seven games.
The Jazz are building. Rudy Gobert was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year at the NBA Awards last month.
The Utah Jazz have snagged their most dynamic point guard since Deron Williams.
This summer, Mike Conley was acquired by the Jazz who desperately needed three-point shooting from that position. Deficiencies that were pronounced in the playoffs have been answered in the offseason.
Carmelo Anthony Free Agency Update
Carmelo Anthony was also spotted in attendance at Black Ops.
Anthony hasn’t played NBA basketball since November 8, 2018, in a game against his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. A 10-time NBA All-Star, Anthony signed with the Houston Rockets this summer after clearing waivers in a trade that shipped him from the Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks.
The third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, it is believed by some that Anthony could end up joining the Lakers.
The Lakers and Carmelo Anthony had mutual interests toward the end of last season — until a mound of LA losses occurred.
Six players returned from last season. That list includes: James, Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso.
Lakers newcomers include: Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Jared Dudley, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels and rookie Talen Horton-Tucker.
The Lakers also have a new head coach in Frank Vogel and assistant coach in Jason Kidd.
The table is set and the Lakers also have one final roster spot.
“He is one of the best 300 players in the world that’s not playing,” TNT’s Kenny Smith told me in April.
“You can’t say he’s not one of the best 300 players.”
While he’s been away from the game, he’s been spending a ton of time going to his son, Kiyan’s basketball games.
“He’s a great player,” New York Knick, Lance Thomas told me in December.
“He’s a great teammate, most importantly he’s a great human being and he’s always been a great advocate for the NBA as a brand. So I just want him to get back on a team and play the sport he loves that’s paved a way for him and his family, and he just loves to play basketball, so I really want him back on a team.”
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Carmelo Anthony Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell Make Splash in NYC