Scouts Concerned With How Trae Young Will Hold Up Physically

[RealGM Wiretap]

Trae Young has had issues physically since mid-January, which has led NBA scouts to openly question how his body type will hold up over an 82-game regular season.

Oklahoma is just 3-10 over that stretch as Young has been unable to continue to carry a flawed team.

Some scouts speculate Young is coasting at this point in the season wanting to avoid expending too much energy to risk injury. Young has been particularly lackluster on defense.

Scouts split on whether they prefer Young or Collin Sexton, but neither player is expected to fall out of the top-10.

Via Jonathan Givony/ESPN

[Red_Claw]

Im not at all saying he's gonna be even half the player Curry is....but this is EXACTLY how they treated Steph in college and beginning of his career.

[colaroaster]

nba ref's call ticky-tac fouls, you can be marshmallow vanilla soft and survive w/o any problem. it's really sad how pathetic the nba fouls have become

[caronimo]

I remember scouts were also concerned about kevin durant physically

[Furinkazan]

I remember scouts saying Thabeet is a second coming of Olajuwon.Thats about how much they are infallible in their asessments.I remember Bennet...etc...
scouts are being drawed like some godly omnipotent beings
while very just few of them have actually a good track record.

[mg]

Scouts also said the same thing about Curry and Kyrie coming out of college. Kyrie basically only played a few games at Duke and of course Curry had the ankle injuries early in his career but both overcame the label. Not saying Young will be like them in the NBA but there is a precedent for scouts having these types of concerns in the past for this type of prospect.

[Harry Garris]

Scouts also said the same thing about Curry and Kyrie coming out of college. Kyrie basically only played a few games at Duke and of course Curry had the ankle injuries early in his career but both overcame the label. Not saying Young will be like them in the NBA but there is a precedent for scouts having these types of concerns in the past on these types of prospects.

Young is also a significantly worse athlete than Kyrie and Curry. So I think these worries are completely justified. Especially when you consider the defensive style of the floor... Unless this guy makes some drastic changes you're probably looking at Isaiah Thomas levels of defense from him.

[DthTrap]

I see him playing for Orlandoin the future or a defensive minded team that can cover for him on d.

[ball_dont_lie23]

i see them both falling from top 10, neither is that good

[F N 11]

NBA is a different game man. You have to get stronger. Plus he's already small. Not going to be easy.

[The_Hater]

NBA is a different game man. You have to get stronger. Plus he's already small. Not going to be easy.

They always say this about smaller guards yet it almost always the bigs that have the most physical issues during their careers.

If I was a drafting at the top of the lottery, I’d take Young and wouldn’t even think twice. He’s a surefire all-star if not superstar built perfectly for today’s NBA.

[12footrim]

Im not at all saying he's gonna be even half the player Curry is....but this is EXACTLY how they treated Steph in college and beginning of his career.

He seems like the closest prospect to Curry to me and for that reason I wouldn't let him get past 3rd or 4th . I'd certainly worry more about Porter with back surgery or whatever he had.

Young putting up numbers beyond what Curry did as a freshman vs a far superior schedule as well. Curry also only shot .38% from three the only year the line was moved back to where it is now and that was his junior year. Pretty incredible production from Young.

I'd take the results over what he looks like. He plays PG, you don't have to be built like a tank to succeed.

[F N 11]

NBA is a different game man. You have to get stronger. Plus he's already small. Not going to be easy.

They always say this about smaller guards yet it almost always the bigs that have the most physical issues during their careers.

If I was a drafting at the top of the lottery, I’d take Young and wouldn’t even think twice. He’s a surefire all-star if not superstar built perfectly for today’s NBA.

There's bigger defenders and guys will bump him on the perimeter. What about finishing at the rim? It all seems easy but the NBA is a different game.

[The_Hater]

NBA is a different game man. You have to get stronger. Plus he's already small. Not going to be easy.

They always say this about smaller guards yet it almost always the bigs that have the most physical issues during their careers.

If I was a drafting at the top of the lottery, I’d take Young and wouldn’t even think twice. He’s a surefire all-star if not superstar built perfectly for today’s NBA.

There's bigger defenders and guys will bump him on the perimeter. What about finishing at the rim? It all seems easy but the NBA is a different game.

These would have been problems 15-20 years ago in the hand check/body block era but the league now is all about speed and skill, not size and strength. It’s a perimeter oriented game played at a high pace and that’s why so many PG’s are flourishing in this era.

[CelticsWin5]

Im not at all saying he's gonna be even half the player Curry is....but this is EXACTLY how they treated Steph in college and beginning of his career.

He seems like the closest prospect to Curry to me and for that reason I wouldn't let him get past 3rd or 4th . I'd certainly worry more about Porter with back surgery or whatever he had.

Young putting up numbers beyond what Curry did as a freshman vs a far superior schedule as well. Curry also only shot .38% from three the only year the line was moved back to where it is now and that was his junior year. Pretty incredible production from Young.

I'd take the results over what he looks like. He plays PG, you don't have to be built like a tank to succeed.

Curry is taller and more importantly significantly longer arms. That helps in defense and Getting shots off, especially with the height advantage curry has. Young is a really really smaller undersized 2 who can't play the point. He's too small to start at the 2 and he doesn't have the elite playmaking ability to start at the 1

[Scoonie]

Young has a really small frame and is not a leaper. Curry definitely has him beat in terms of physicality and overall athleticism.

Incredibly skilled but will be seriously limited at the NBA level.

[12footrim]

Im not at all saying he's gonna be even half the player Curry is....but this is EXACTLY how they treated Steph in college and beginning of his career.

He seems like the closest prospect to Curry to me and for that reason I wouldn't let him get past 3rd or 4th . I'd certainly worry more about Porter with back surgery or whatever he had.

Young putting up numbers beyond what Curry did as a freshman vs a far superior schedule as well. Curry also only shot .38% from three the only year the line was moved back to where it is now and that was his junior year. Pretty incredible production from Young.

I'd take the results over what he looks like. He plays PG, you don't have to be built like a tank to succeed.

Curry is taller and more importantly significantly longer arms. That helps in defense and Getting shots off, especially with the height advantage curry has. Young is a really really smaller undersized 2 who can't play the point. He's too small to start at the 2 and he doesn't have the elite playmaking ability to start at the 1

I don't know what Young's wingspan is but Curry has pretty short arms by NBA standards. Curry's wingspan is only 6-4 I believe. Isaiah Thomas's is 6-1.5 for comparison. It's really not that big a deal for a Guard anyway, he's not protecting the rim or anything. Curry looked like a 14 year old when he was drafted, plenty of time to bulk up.

The guy averages 9 assist in college. I wouldn't call him just an undersized 2. Even if he is look at Kyrie and Lou, who are basically undersized 2's. I wouldn't worry about that, not the way the NBA is going.

[gordoncatrell]

there is no comparison to Curry. doesnt exist. or Kyrie for that matter.
Curry/Kyrie is the 1st of his kind. cat-like feet and agility. they have an imagination of spacing that we hadnt seen since Kobe; spacing/countering/daring/abstract.

Trae is good, but he's not Curry/Kyrie. not close.

[draftnightsuit]

Curry is 6’3, which is above average for a PG. Young barely looks 6 foot.

Curry can also play with or without the ball, while Young is completely ball dominant. He hasn’t shown much catch-and-shoot ability, and certainly isn’t coming off of screens like Curry is.

Curry is the greatest shooter of all time, Young is just a guy who likes to launch 35 footers.

[codydaze]

They always say this about smaller guards yet it almost always the bigs that have the most physical issues during their careers.

If I was a drafting at the top of the lottery, I’d take Young and wouldn’t even think twice. He’s a surefire all-star if not superstar built perfectly for today’s NBA.

There's bigger defenders and guys will bump him on the perimeter. What about finishing at the rim? It all seems easy but the NBA is a different game.

These would have been problems 15-20 years ago in the hand check/body block era but the league now is all about speed and skill, not size and strength. It’s a perimeter oriented game played at a high pace and that’s why so many PG’s are flourishing in this era.

I know Young is a better passer but do you think he's going to be significantly better than Malik Monk has been in the NBA? He's even smaller than Monk and doesn't have the same athleticism that he does. Young is all volume, his USG% is significantly higher than any other PG prospect of the last 5 draft classes. The only guards that had a similar USG% were CJ McCollum and Russ Smith. With those guys, even with the high USG, they had much lower TOV% as well and McCollum was a more efficient scorer. I'm personally not a believer in his NBA prospects.