NBA Hustle Awardee Hints At Desire To Join Contender Team As Career Nears Crossroads

KEY POINTS

Thaddeus Young wants a chance to join a contending team
Young could be dealt at the NBA trade deadline to teams in need of a tested bench player
The Spurs are unlikely to keep Young for long as it focuses on young players

Throughout his NBA career, Thaddeus Young has had his ups and downs.

He is currently with the San Antonio Spurs although most know that the franchise is in a rebuilding phase.

At 33 years old, there is no question that Young is only in San Antonio on a temporary lease.

Aside from being called to play, he is there to help guide the young players under the watch of head coach Gregg Popovich.

But with the NBA trade deadline approaching, Young could be one of the many candidates changing zip codes.

Should that be the case, the 2021 NBA Hustle Awardee hopes he can be shipped to a team in contention for the Larry O’Brien trophy.

The 6-foot-8 cager appeared on the "Posted Up’" podcast opposite Chris Haynes and made some interesting tidbits moving forward.

“With this organization and this franchise, we’re not in a contending situation. We’re going to compete and we’re going to try to contend and try to do things, but we’re in a rebuilding situation. With being in a rebuilding situation, that’s not ideal for a guy that just came off a really good season, going into his 15th season to going to another rebuild,” Young told Haynes.

Through the years, the name of Young has been a familiar fixture in NBA trade talk.

At the moment, he is on a $14.2 million expiring deal, something that could either be bought out or sent to another team willing to pick up the tab.

Coming off a great season that saw Young post averages of 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 24.3 minutes of action, his current run with the Spurs is far from satisfactory.

In the 22 games where he has appeared so far for San Antonio, Young has managed only 6.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in only 14.1 minutes of action per Basketball-Reference.

The performance alone hints that Young could be better off playing elsewhere.

Questions will start to crop up on his efficiency, and the native of Louisiana knows time is not on his side.

A change of scenery may change his fortunes.