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

reazun · Post #261 » by **reazun** » Wed Jan 2, 2019 5:15 pm

in the last 8 games Trae Young has had 16 ppg 8 assists, shooting 48% and 50% from three

Post #262 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Jan 2, 2019 8:48 pm

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Post #263 » by **Jamaaliver** » Thu Jan 3, 2019 3:21 pm

An abridged version:

This recent version of Trae Young’s game isn’t what the Hawks drafted, but it’s working

Ray Young has seen the criticism his son has received during his rookie season: Can’t shoot. Can’t defend. Travis Schlenk made a horrible draft decision when he traded Luka Doncic for his son.

“It affects me a ton. I’ll be 100 percent honest with you,” Ray said.

So these past 10 games have been satisfying for him. Young is averaging 15.5 points and 7.5 assists in 30 minutes per game. He’s 16-of-40 from 3-point range (40 percent), and 46-of-94 inside the arc (49 percent). The Hawks, unquestionably one of the bottom feeders across the league, are 6-5 during this stretch. Indiana head coach Nate McMillan, who has seen Young twice over that time, has been impressed with what he has seen.

Young has lessened his shot output during this stretch and hasn’t forced as many attempts as he did in his first 20 games in the league. This 10-game stretch isn’t the version of Young that Atlanta eyed when the front office made the decision to trade Doncic for him and Dallas’ first-round pick in the upcoming draft. Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce has said on numerous occasions that the Trae Young the Hawks are expecting is one who can pull up from anywhere on the court and make a shot.

But this version of Young is working for himself and the Hawks right now.

Young is in a unique situation where he’s a rookie point guard who is already the focal point of his team on offense. His usage rate ranks among the top 25 in the league with some of the league’s best players. Doncic and Young are the only two rookies who are in the top 30 among the league leaders in usage rate.

The biggest difference between Young and Doncic’s situations, however, is the talent around them.

Young could become more of a dangerous threat on offense if he had another ball-handler on the court with him. Ray said Young has been more dangerous as a player when he has played off the ball. It’s also why Duke’s R.J. Barrett probably would be a better fit alongside Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter -- than would Zion Williamson.

The Athletic

Post #264 » by **ATL Boy** » Thu Jan 3, 2019 3:28 pm

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Trae Young’s recent surge has come with Taurean Prince not in the lineup. I don’t think that they mesh well together and I’m not one for major coinspiracy theories but I do feel that Prince is trying to take the ball and be the man over this young rook who’s been given the keys to the franchise.

I really hope that a Schlenk starts shopping Prince sooner rather than later. I don’t think he’ll fit in the long term plans with Young, Huerter and another wing, whom we’ll probably draft this summer. The longer we wait to shop him the more his value will decrease.

macd-gm · Post #265 » by **macd-gm** » Thu Jan 3, 2019 3:33 pm

ATL Boy wrote:I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Trae Young’s recent surge has come with Taurean Prince not in the lineup. I don’t think that they mesh well together and I’m not one for major coinspiracy theories but I do feel that Prince is trying to take the ball and be the man over this young rook who’s been given the keys to the franchise.

I really hope that a Schlenk starts shopping Prince sooner rather than later. I don’t think he’ll fit in the long term plans with Young, Huerter and another wing, whom we’ll probably draft this summer. The longer we wait to shop him the more his value will decrease.

I agree with this but things can change also. I think it changed with Baze in this way too. Once these guys realize that Trae is really their best friend on the court because he will get them the ball for easy hoops then things start to click. The team is much more functional now than when Prince went down. Hopefully he comes back and finds a good groove.

jayu70 · Post #266 » by **jayu70** » Mon Jan 7, 2019 1:05 am

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Post #267 » by **Jamaaliver** » Mon Jan 7, 2019 3:26 am

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King Ken · Post #268 » by **King Ken** » Mon Jan 7, 2019 3:53 am

Trae is technically 3rd in drives per game with a 3.6 ast and 1.6 to rate with a higher FG% than James Harden in the last 11 games.

https://stats.nba.com/players/drives/?sort=DRIVES&dir=1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=11

Post #269 » by **HMFFL** » Mon Jan 7, 2019 12:07 pm

Trae Young has some ink after getting a tattoo yesterday. It's located on his right arm.

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personanongrata · Post #270 » by **personanongrata** » Mon Jan 7, 2019 1:04 pm

HMFFL wrote:Trae Young has some ink after getting a tattoo yesterday. It's located on his right arm.

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I didnt notice it. I hope he doesn't go JR Smith on us.

personanongrata · Post #271 » by **personanongrata** » Mon Jan 7, 2019 2:24 pm

HMFFL wrote:Trae Young has some ink after getting a tattoo yesterday. It's located on his right arm.

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

You have a picture?

Post #272 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 1:40 pm

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Post #273 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 6:21 pm

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macd-gm · Post #274 » by **macd-gm** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 6:25 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:

Read on Twitter

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Only one with negative win shares AND the only one on that list who was traded for Luka. So two huge negatives for Trae.

personanongrata · Post #275 » by **personanongrata** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 7:36 pm

Not being a hater but ESPN had this blurb... "Rookies traditionally struggle to adapt to NBA defenses, but Trae Young's defensive real plus-minus rating is the stuff of the googly-eyes emoji. He ranks dead last out of 472 players, several lengths behind No. 471 (Collin Sexton)."

Post #276 » by **Jamaaliver** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 7:59 pm

^1. It's a valid concern and the next thing on Trae's to do list.

2. We're still competitive and winning games despite it.

There's a chance that stat of theirs is overrated...

9-11 over the last 20 games.

EazyRoc · Post #277 » by **EazyRoc** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 8:08 pm

TrAe CAnT sHoOT though

CP War Hawks · Post #278 » by **CP War Hawks** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 8:10 pm

Young basically tried to take over the league like he did at Oklahoma. It's obviously not that simple, now he's playing at a more mid paced tempo which allows his game to slow down, and make better decisions.

He can still make more adjustments to his game, especially once the integral pieces are in place. His defense is atrocious. Only way to remedy that is to get stronger, although his frame isn't the best. Signing a guy like Barea would be good mentoring move. Hard nosed small pg that can teach our prodigy some nuances.

personanongrata · Post #279 » by **personanongrata** » Tue Jan 8, 2019 9:47 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:^1. It's a valid concern and the next thing on Trae's to do list.

2. We're still competitive and winning games despite it.

There's a chance that stat of theirs is overrated...

9-11 over the last 20 games.

You can hide it during the regular season, but once we are a playoff team and it becomes more match up specific, teams will target Trae on every possession.

Post #280 » by **Atlanta Hawk Fan** » Wed Jan 9, 2019 3:52 pm

personanongrata wrote:
Jamaaliver wrote:^1. It's a valid concern and the next thing on Trae's to do list.

2. We're still competitive and winning games despite it.

There's a chance that stat of theirs is overrated...

9-11 over the last 20 games.

You can hide it during the regular season, but once we are a playoff team and it becomes more match up specific, teams will target Trae on every possession.

He will need to improve his defense for sure but having a weak defender at PG isn't an insurmountable flaw. If he can reach "korver-like" levels of good positioning and effort, I think he will be just fine. If he gets stronger (which should happen very naturally), that will help him a lot.