Atlanta Hawks GM Blames 'Politics' for Star's Olympic Team Snub

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Trae Young was left off the 44-man preliminary Olympic roster that was announced on Monday afternoon and he was a little disappointed by that decision.

There's no question that Trae Young is a better player than multiple guards who did make the prelim roster, but it appears that the decisions were made based on factors other than just talent and performance.

Atlanta Hawks Head Coach Lloyd Pierce, who is an assistant for the US Basketball Team, spoke about Trae Young being left off and the road to earning his spot on that team.

Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk, who joins John Fricke and Hugh Douglas every Tuesday, addressed the surprise and disappointment of Trae being slighted.

"One of the things we do like about Trae is his competitiveness and fire to be one of the best players in the league," explains Schlenk. "I am a little surprised they're taking 44 guys and we all believe he's one of the top 50 players or 44 players in the league. There's politics that goes into it. It's not all about the top 44 players. It's a Nike sponsored event and he's an Adidas guy, when it comes to one guy over the other, it might come down to that. He deserved the opportunity to be there."

John Fricke and Hugh Douglas also spoke about the 44-man roster and why they felt Trae Young DID deserve to be among the 44 players selected to try out.

"This is one of those situations where you have to be a part of the association," says Hugh Douglas. "It's kind of like a rite of passage, it's like being in a fraternity. Pierce is talking about it from a perspective only he understands."

There have been some analysis of the roster explaining about guys with previous Olympic experience receiving tenure or at least an advantage and that seems to be the main reason others were chosen before Trae Young.

"Trae's hurt that he wasn't considered. Trae is one of the fastest rising stars, but there's still things he has to wait for," explains Hugh. "Your time to shine is coming real soon, but now is not that time."