During the 2020-21 playoffs, Trae Young has shown his ability to the world, leading the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals, and eliminating the No. 1 seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the process. That was certainly something that people didn’t expect in the beginning of the season, and it seems as though the midseason hire of Nate McMillan has turned things around for the team. It was Trae Young who was the main source of their success in the playoffs, however, as he carried an immense offensive load for his team.
Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk has recently revealed the biggest thing that led to Trae Young’s success, and that is trusting his teammates. Schlenk shared a story about how Young was supposed to come back into the game, but he told the coach to let Lou Williams play because Williams was performing well.
🔊 @ATLHawks GM & President Travis Schlenk tells @TermineRadio & @Jumpshot8 what the biggest thing they saw from Trae Young this season#NBASummer | #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/c0kOURFdLo
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 13, 2021
I think that the biggest thing we saw from Trae this year was being able to trust his teammates, not feeling like he has to make every play. A great example of that you know, it’d be time for him to go back in the game, and coach would go put him back in the game at his normal time, and he’d be like “No, no. Lou’s got it going. Let Lou go.” So you know, just allowing his teammates to help carry the load. That’s hard for a lot of these guys that come in from high school and college that have been the main guy, to learn that their teammates are good players too, and to let them do their things as well.
There is no question that Trae Young has uplifted the Atlanta Hawks back into the spotlight, and it seems as though these playoffs are just the beginning. Hopefully, Trae Young can continue to improve, and we’ll likely see more great playoff runs from him in the future.
