Trae Young has been must watch tv, as of late. In the final week of February, Young averaged 31.3 points, 9 assists, and 3.5 rebounds.
Not only has Young’s stellar production convinced Adam Silver to name him February’s Kia Eastern Conference Rookie Of The Month, but Young also became the first rookie to average 23.3 points and 9.3 assists in a month (min. 10 games) since Oscar Robertson.
That being said, while these numbers are impressive and many around the league have taken notice, there hasn’t always been positive connotations attached to Young’s name. In fact, there was rather a growing concern over Young’s inefficiency early on, in the first half of the season.
Prior to the All-Star break, Young had an FG% of .406, and a .312 3P%.
The most glaring example of Young’s inefficient production, by a large margin, came in the month of November where he had an FG% of .35, a .198 3P%, and only managed to average 14 ppg.
If one were to trace back even further, during his one year at Oklahoma, there were many skeptics questioning the enormous hype he was receiving and whether or not his high scoring numbers in college would be able to translate to the NBA. Some of Young’s most common critiques, at the time, included: his small stature preventing him from ever becoming a capable defender, Young’s draft stock benefitting from being the only scoring option in Oklahoma, lacking the athleticism to finish at the rim over taller defenders, and the Steph Curry comparison being so hyperbolic that he was bound to come up short.
As a result, when the 2018 NBA draft night arrived, various NBA analysts questioned Atlanta’s decision to trade down (bypassing a chance to select Luka Doncic) and draft Trae Young, with Dalla’s 5th pick.
It was in that moment, that the NBA world established a juxtaposition among the two players; a player comparison that everyone will observe for the rest of their professional careers.
Unlike Young, whom many had near the bottom of the top 10 in mock drafts, not many concerns surrounded Doncic’s ability to play at the NBA level. Sure, many wondered if he was quick and athletic enough to be able to hold his ground against NBA players, but he was still considered a consensus top 5 pick by Givony, Schmitz, amongst many other draft experts.
Since signing at 13 years-old, Doncic’s play in Real Madrid had basketball scouts raving about his fundamentals, basketball IQ, and how an advanced feel for the game Doncic had, despite being so young. Most importantly, scouts kept alluding to the fact that he was playing against grown men (the Euroleague is ranked the second best to the NBA) and was effortlessly outplaying them.
And so far this NBA season, their prophecies about Doncic’s NBA success have been proven correct.
If you combine his production with how the media often labeled Doncic the unanimous rookie of the year, for a number of months now, it’s not hard to see why the two narratives fueled the same frenzy that left everyone puzzled on June 21st.
Which brings us back to Young’s past 10 games: what exactly has lead to Young receiving immense praise and recognition recently? The same player that was considered a wildcard, coming out the draft, and has now all of a sudden slightly closed the gap between him and Doncic: the front runner for Rookie Of The Year Award.
Well, for one, the Atlanta Hawks are actually winning. A rebuilding team that is filled with young/inexperienced prospects and swingmen, has still managed to pull off several wins in Feb and March and beaten several noteworthy opponents. A list that includes teams like the Lakers, Wizards, and Timberwolves. And even in games lost, they often came down to the wire and were awfully close.
Above all, Young has finally been able to get out his shooting slump and regain his confidence by averaging 23- plus points in Feb and March, followed by converting on 43% from 3.
With Young being able to finally make his 3-pointers at a higher clip — a skill he wasn’t able to fully take advantage of, earlier in the season — it has made it difficult for teams to stay committed to a single defensive scheme: defenders can no longer go under the pick-and-roll or choose to switch, since he’ll burn you with the 3 ball or drive past slow-footed bigs, but likewise, coaches also can’t have their players hedge or go over, given Young’s great passing ability. Essentially, it’s now become pick your poison, which will only become tougher to guard once Young is surrounded with more shooting.
Young’s play has proven to everyone, especially doubters, that regardless of how premature Young and Doncic are in their careers, it’s not far fetched to predict that down the line, the trade might actually end up being considered a win-win situation for both teams. A sentiment that wasn’t considered plausible at one point.
