The Case for being extremely patient with Trae Young's development

[Jamaaliver]

Trae Young's Inconsistent Start No Reason to Panic

The Hawks have a first-year head coach, traded Dennis Schroder this past offseason and finished 24-58 in 2017-18. They are clearly in rebuilding mode, and Young is their primary building block after they passed on the chance to land Luka Doncic on draft day for the Oklahoma product.

While Atlanta doesn't have the personnel to realistically compete in 2018-19, Young's development provides reason for hope after he led the country in points (27.4) and assists (8.7) per game during his one collegiate campaign at Oklahoma.

Hawks fans have been greeted with inconsistency thus far, as he hinted at his potential with an offensive explosion last week against the Cleveland Cavaliers (35 points and 11 assists) but went a combined 6-of-24 from the field and 1-of-9 from deep in the two games prior to Monday's.

It was more of the same against the 76ers, as he blew past Fultz and Robert Covington for layups, drilled a deep triple and dropped eight dimes while also going just 1-of-6 from three-point range and 5-of-13 from the field.

There is no reason to panic given the small sample size and the fact less-than-stellar performances give the 20-year-old opportunities to fight through adversity and develop a short memory, which will be needed as a franchise cornerstone. His individual development is far more important than wins and losses this season for the Hawks, and that gives him freedom with the ball many rookies aren't afforded.

Young and future draft picks figure to make up the Hawks' core when they are ready to compete again, so the ups-and-downs should not discourage him from continuing to attack offensively.

These contests are just trial runs for when the games take on more meaning later in his career.

Bleacher Report

[Jamaaliver]

I wanted to point out a play that didn’t have much to do with the game itself but has been a problem for the Hawks on the defense early in this season.



In this play, Nance hands the ball off to George Hill, who buries the 3. Nance sets a screen on Young, who gets tangled up and can’t get free, which allows plenty of space for Hill to make the easy look. This has been an issue all season for the Hawks. Atlanta ranks 27th in guarding hand-offs, according to Synergy Sports. Opposing teams have made 18-of-38 field goal attempts so far on these plays and have scored 1.08 points per possession. Young has been the main culprit as he has trouble working through screens. Again, it’s too early to judge if this is going to continue to be an issue for him because of his size, but it’s worth monitoring moving forward because the more film teams have, the more they will take advantage of this. And it should come as no surprise that Synergy ranks Young as the team’s only below average defender out of those who have played significant minutes.

The Athletic

[macd-gm]

That's a moving screen. I know it never gets called but Trae has to learn when to go hit the deck and force the refs to call that. A la the "king"

[Jamaaliver]

Bust, i put money on it


Bye

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[Jamaaliver]

NY Fans are still beaming over how their 2017 draft pick managed to 'shut down' Trae.

This is the blueprint for how teams will defend our boy.

Solutions:

1. play Trae off-ball more often and run him off screens to tire out defenders, creating more space in the process
2. add another elite perimeter scorer to take all the defensive focus off of Trae.

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[Jamaaliver]

Hawks, Warriors say comparisons of Young to Curry should be put on pause



When Young got to Oklahoma, his ability to pull up anywhere inside the halfcourt drew natural comparisons to Curry. Young looked like the heir apparent to the Golden State star. After declaring for the NBA draft, the weaknesses analysts expressed with Young’s game (will he be able to finish at the rim, can he defend his position, is he strong enough?) mirrored the weaknesses of Curry’s game when he left Davidson after his junior season.

The comparisons between the two players have continued...into the season, but the Warriors and Hawks believe the conversation should be paused.

“A lot of people get too caught up with trying to compare Trae to where Steph is now,” Kent Bazemore, who played a season-and-a-half with Curry, said. “You can’t do that because a lot of people fail to realize that Steph has been in the league for 10 years. Steph is a two-time MVP, a three-time champion. That’s a lot to compare to.”

“You have to let him grow into who he is,” Livingston said. “Steph wasn’t Steph until he grew into who he was. I get the comparisons because that’s just what the basketball game is, but the (Hawks) are doing it right. They’re giving him the ball. He’s making plays. He’s making mistakes. He’s able to grow. That’s what he needs. I don’t think the expectation should be, ‘We expect him to be Steph right away, because it’s tough.’ ”

Their careers started much differently. Young is already the focal point of Atlanta’s offense. His usage rate of 27.2 percent is one of the highest in the league. He has averaged more than 30 minutes, 15 shots, 17.5 points and 8.2 assists per game.

Curry started much slower because he wasn’t relied upon early due to Monta Ellis and Corey Maggette being the main scorers on the Warriors’ roster in his rookie season. Curry’s usage rate through his first 13 games was 15.8 percent, and he only averaged eight shots per game. The main difference between the two was the efficiency at what both are known for — the 3. Curry shot 43.8 percent from deep during his first 13 games. Through 14 games, Young is at 26.7 percent on nearly seven attempts per game.

Young has struggled with the off-the-dribble 3, a shot he has excelled during his career. Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce recalled how Curry was the opposite when it came to how the majority of his attempts were taken coming out of Davidson. Curry played off the basketball, and a lot of his shots early on in his career were off staggered screens and off movement. The off-the-dribble 3 was something he had to develop. There has been enough of a sample size to where concerns about Young’s shooting are understood...

One of the most difficult things Young has had to overcome is the losing. Trae's father said his son takes every loss hard because he doesn’t look at his situation with the Hawks this season as a rebuilding year...That’s why his father has been around the team so much because once the games are over, Young prefers to not to have to talk to anyone. He wants to get out of the arena as soon as possible to break down the film to understand what went wrong.

Pierce wants Young to emulate Curry’s shooting ability, for sure, but he wants Young to take something away from other point guards. He wants him to develop a floater like Mike Conley. He wants him to be as gifted of a passer as Pierce’s college teammate, Steve Nash. Watch how Klay Thompson shoots off the dribble. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr sees one of those players in Young.

While watching the game Tuesday, Young’s father remarked how noticeable it was that Quinn Cook, who started in place of Curry, had learned to never stop moving while on offense, which is something Curry does. When a player keeps moving on offense, defenders are more prone to get lazy or lose him in traffic. That’s what allows for open looks. Young has a tendency to not move as often as he should, and that allows for more contested 3s.

The Athletic

[jayu70]

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[Jamaaliver]

Trae Young, Hawks Think Steph Curry Comparisons Miss the Target



Trae Young has drawn quite a bit from the two-time MVP's game. From the unconscionable long balls to his patented celebration, there are some similarities—and quite a few differences.

"They're light-skinned, they're 6'2" shooters that can pass," first-year Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce said with a laugh. "So it's an obvious comparison from that standpoint, but I think their games have been different."

In fact, not much is similar. Whereas Curry is a key cog on a stacked roster, Young operates as the engine on a young team.

"I think they're different players, honestly," Pierce continued. "When Steph came out of Davidson, he was, and still is, one of the best catch-and-shoot, off-the-ball players that we've seen. It's different. Trae comes in as the leader in the nation last year in assists, and a lot of his threes were off the dribble, which is different for a college player.

"So, he's used to having the ball in his hands, Trae is. And when Steph came in the league, he was used to playing without the basketball. One of the things Steph had to learn and grow into was a guy that plays with the basketball, and one of the things Trae has to grow into is to play without it.

Pierce is on the money. Thirty percent of Curry's field goals are spot-up threes, compared to only 13.2 percent of Young's shots. Meanwhile, Curry and Young shoot approximately the same number of threes off the dribble. Those off-dribble threes are eye-grabbing, but let's wait for Young to start hitting some shots before we anoint him the second coming.

Nearly 40 percent of his offense comes out of pick-and-rolls, compared to less than 25 percent for Curry. Curry comes off screens, spots up and uses transition more than Young, who gets a lot of dribble handoffs and isolations to initiate his offense.

Bleacher Report

[Jamaaliver]

When he was originally signed, the thought was Lin, if he was fully healthy, would start and Young would come off the bench as he learned from a veteran point guard. Lin was healthy to start the season, but it was clear he was a step slow as he made his return back from injuries that caused him to miss significant time the past two seasons.

With Lin not 100 percent, that allowed the Hawks to hand the keys over to Young, and the team hasn’t looked back. Lin has had a few games this season where he has been a big contributor but it’s hard to imagine him becoming a starter with Young clearly the future of this team.

I can tell you that from the people I’ve talked to inside the Hawks’ organization, there’s no concern about Young’s shooting struggles. This isn’t a Markelle Fultz situation where his shot looks discombobulated. The ball just isn’t going in the basket. Young is shooting an abysmal 19 percent on pull-up 3-pointers. That’s likely not going to continue because that’s the area of his game where he has excelled. That number goes up to 44.4 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s.

Only 13 percent of his 3-point attempts have come off catch-and-shoot, and head coach Lloyd Pierce has said that the team needs to do a better job of running plays for Young where he catches and shoots instead of pulling up.

Where he clearly has been a revelation is his passing ability. There’s no doubt that his vision and IQ are already advanced for this stage in his career.

When the 3s start falling — and there’s no sign that they won’t — he’s going to be one of the best point guards in the league.

The Athletic

[13th Man]

I'm not worried for Trae, he hasn't had much to work with, a healthy Collins will help to give him more space by being a low post threat. He's also had some good chemistry with Collins during the preseason so things are only looking up from here.

[Jamaaliver]

Ten things I like and don't like, including Trae Young

6. Drivin' Trae Young

Young's bricky start should feel more distressing. He's shooting 25.6 percent on six 3-point attempts per game. Antoine Walker is a little ashamed. He is a nonentity on defense -- a piece of tissue paper floating around the action.

Young's passing is as advertised, but the drives setting up those passes represent the best reason to hold onto your Young optimism. Defenders press him almost to half court, and Young baits them into reaches -- and blows by them.

Young has recorded almost 23 drives per 100 possessions, ninth-most among rotation players, per Second Spectrum. Almost 40 percent of Young's shots have come within four feet of the rim, a hefty mark. He's finishing at about an average rate for point guards, and average is great on the rookie point guard curve. He coaxes in layups from awkward angles, way below the rim.

He's patient with a live dribble, always scanning for passes. The Hawks have scored about 1.15 points per possession when Young drives -- slightly above average, per Second Spectrum. Again: For a rookie amid this tanky, stanky roster, average is a huge win.

Even in nabbing a top-five-protected pick from Dallas, the Hawks gambled picking Young over Luka Doncic. It was a bet both on Young and against Doncic -- that Doncic wouldn't be so much more valuable than Young during their primes as to be worth more than the combination of Young and that pick.

We'll see. Atlanta obviously needs Young to develop into a mega-3-point shooter. But some college shooters build their NBA games from inside out. Maybe Young is one of them.

ESPN

[Jamaaliver]

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Trae Young could be the natural evolution of Steph Curry, but they're taking vastly different paths

The Hawks rookie combines Curry's shooting range with Steve Nash's passing, but is he being thrown too much too soon?

Because of his size and appearance, combined with an ability and confidence to shoot from anywhere inside half-court, Hawks rookie Trae Young drew immediate comparisons to Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. Indeed it's impossible to not see Curry when you watch Young dribbling around the court, waiting for the slightest bit of daylight to launch from 30 feet or using craft and honed skill to finish over human redwoods in the lane.

But, according to Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce, the Curry comparison only goes so far.

"I think they're different players, honestly," Pierce said. " ... One of the things Steph had to learn and grow into was a guy that plays with the basketball, and one of the things Trae has to grow into is to play without it."

Pierce's story checks out, as 29 percent of Curry's shots as a rookie came in catch-and-shoot scenarios. Young, on the other hand, has taken only 14 percent of his shots as catch-and-shoots.

Another big difference, and perhaps the most important one, is the amount of responsibility Young carries for a young Atlanta team. Rather than starting veteran Jeremy Lin, the Hawks chose to throw Young directly to the wolves, giving him the keys to the offense as a 20-year-old. It's resulted in a usage rate of 27.0 thus far, tops among rookies and 29th in the league. Curry's usage rate as a rookie was 21.8, and he didn't get past 27.0 until his fifth season, in which he made his first All-Star appearance.

Is it too much to expect Young to produce efficiently while shouldering so much of the offense at such a young age?

"It's very hard, but that's what he signed up for, that's what we drafted him for, that's what everybody is behind him to do," said Hawks forward Taurean Prince.

It seems a lot of pressure to put on a kid who was taking college classes this time last year, but Pierce doesn't see it that way. He says that this is how Young played in his one season at Oklahoma (a whopping 37.1 percent usage rate), so he doesn't think it's overwhelming for his prized rookie.

Did Curry need those initial years of playing off the ball and bearing less offensive responsibility to hone his game?

Would Young benefit from a year of playing 20 minutes per game instead of the 30 he's playing now?

It makes you wonder whether Curry's growth would have been stunted or accelerated had he played the way he does now from Day One. We'll never know, but we can watch Young's development closely.

CBS Sports

[Jamaaliver]

Will Trae ever produce enough offensively to offset his defensive deficiencies?

Rookies will go through ups and downs. Especially on a tanking team like the Hawks, the position they put Trae Young in will result in a ton of feast or famine results.

The problem is that the Hawks really aren’t that bad when Young isn’t in the game. They get outscored by 12.7 points per 100 possessions with Young in the game. Take him out and that number improves to -0.8 points per 100 possessions. The team can’t score with or without him, but they at least defend better with him on the bench. The combination of him and Jeremy Lin together (-2.2 in 35 minutes) isn’t that bad. But Young is also shooting 33.3% from the field and 12.8% from 3-point range in his last seven games. He’s 0-of-14 from deep over his last three games.

Perhaps things will improve greatly now that John Collins is back in the mix. He had a nice season debut in a loss to Indiana. The Hawks just need to find a way to get Young in better situations to succeed, even as they look to drop games in the holy name of lottery odds.

The Athletic

[PG13]

Will Trae ever produce enough offensively to offset his defensive deficiencies?

Rookies will go through ups and downs. Especially on a tanking team like the Hawks, the position they put Trae Young in will result in a ton of feast or famine results.

The problem is that the Hawks really aren’t that bad when Young isn’t in the game. They get outscored by 12.7 points per 100 possessions with Young in the game. Take him out and that number improves to -0.8 points per 100 possessions. The team can’t score with or without him, but they at least defend better with him on the bench. The combination of him and Jeremy Lin together (-2.2 in 35 minutes) isn’t that bad. But Young is also shooting 33.3% from the field and 12.8% from 3-point range in his last seven games. He’s 0-of-14 from deep over his last three games.

Perhaps things will improve greatly now that John Collins is back in the mix. He had a nice season debut in a loss to Indiana. The Hawks just need to find a way to get Young in better situations to succeed, even as they look to drop games in the holy name of lottery odds.

The Athletic

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[macd-gm]

Trae has been really bad shooting lately. There is not denying that. His bad defense was to be expected and honestly isn't as bad as many are trying to proclaim.

I'm not trying to make excuses for Trae because he has flat out sucked shooting (passing is still pretty strong). But the league has figured out the Hawks offense. There isn't much too it. So some of this is on the rookie in charge.

[Jamaaliver]

Might be time to invite Rayford II to comne down and work on Trae's shooting. The same way the Braves used to do with Chipper Jones and his father.

Why Young was in the gym after midnight Saturday and what it says about his mindset



The​ Hawks’ team​ plane​ didn’t​ arrive at​ Hartsfield-Jackson International​ Airport until​ after midnight​ Saturday​ after​ the team’s four-game road​ trip.​ Trae​​ Young played 24 minutes that night against the Indiana Pacers, a game in which he shot 3-of-11 from the field and failed to score double digit points in his third consecutive game.

Instead of going home and sleeping off his shooting slump in preparation for Atlanta’s upcoming homestand, Young drove to the team’s practice facility, alone, and stayed there for roughly 90 minutes at around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning.

It was him, a basketball and an empty gym. That’s Young’s way to reset his mind to allow him the chance to see the ball go through the net. Young has never had a personal shooting coach other than his father, Ray, growing up. The two still talk and break down every game. His father has told him that in order to get out of the shooting slump he’s in, he needs to see the ball go through the hoop, and that means driving inside the paint and finishing at the rim and drawing contact for free-throw attempts. It’s about getting back to the basics for Young.

The shots still didn’t fall for Young on Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers in a 127-119 loss. Young was 3-of-11 outside the paint and 5-of-11 at the rim. He finished with 25 points and 17 assists.

Yet, what’s remarkable about Young’s game Monday night, as one Hawks staff member said, “You felt like he could have done more.”

Young wasn’t in the best of moods after another loss and wasn’t ready to celebrate what he had just accomplished from a personal standpoint.

Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce said he “liked everything” from Young’s game Monday, even the missed shots because Lloyd is not a make-or-miss coach. If the shots are open, he wants the Hawks to take them. He’ll live with a miss if the play was executed correctly, or if it’s a simple shot in rhythm.

Young has seen and heard the comments about his lack of shooting so far. It’s nothing new because he feels like he has been doubted his entire basketball career, and he always has made it a point to try to prove people wrong.

That’s why he was alone in a gym Saturday night. He wants nothing more than to prove those people wrong and start helping the Hawks win.

“I’m going to get there. I’ll be fine. The shot is about to start falling. I’m just looking forward to when it starts happening. It’s been a few games now where I haven’t been doing well,” he said. “I’m good for a game coming up soon. I just hope it comes soon.”

The Athletic

[PG13]

People often like to say they want to “prove people wrong”, it’s so cliche.

Mostly good, positive things have been said about Trae. It’s not like he went undrafted, overlooked, or buried on the bench. His shooting is in a slump, that’s a fact. Unless he wants to prove that 24% 3P% is his norm. He’s a defensive liability, so are many other good PGs in the league and it’s not something he can fix in a hurry. The only thing “negative” people say often is that Luka is better, but wanting to prove that he’s better than the 3rd pick seems like a petty goal.

Ignore the outside noise (there’s not a lot), walk your own path, and be the best player you can be.

[Vae Victus]

I'd like to see more Trae/Lin backcourt mins. Lin has proven he can guard most modern SGs (since theyre mostly combo guards these days) and having 2 facilitators will likely greatly improve Trae's efficiency as he gets better looks, which when he starts making them will hopefully get him into a better shooting rhythm as the season progresses. Also having 2 good ballhandlers on the floor means you cant blitz them with traps or too much pressure since if they get the ball to each other, either can attack downhill in a 4v3 situation. BRK was likely looking to run such a set with Lin and DLo last year, sadly Lin went down in game 1 and that's all she wrote.

Lin also plays better when he gets more mins. The better Lin plays the more trade value he can fetch back at the deadline.

Sadly for Lin, the Hawks obviously have their own team direction. Development of all the youth at the guard/wing spots (Trae, Huerter, Bembry, Prince, Dorsey), and the only time LIn gets any significant mins is when Trae craps the bed. For the Hawks thats the 100% right thing to do, it just sucks for Lin since he needs PT to showcase himself when he's a FA at the end of the season.

I feel that Trae has too much on his plate and needs to focus on simpler things on offense rather than launching all of these ill advised super long distance 3s. All these bricks are surely impacting his confidence, as the article says, he needs some sets run for him to get some easy buckets. Backdoor cuts or wall screens that he can curl off of to get wide open 3pt looks.

[leo7]

I agree. The last game was a perfect example. LP should've let Trae play with Lin instead of benching him.

[bws94]

I think Prince should be taken out of the starting unit and Lin should play with Trae more minutes. Those two things may help Trae. Huerter or Bembry for Prince. Until Prince can get it together, he's ruining the starting unit IMO.