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

[Jamaaliver]

5 rookies from the 2018 NBA Draft class most likely to end up busts, ranked




2. Trae Young, G, Atlanta Hawks

This one may come back to bite me. Young has the upside of a superstar. Like mega, generational, Steph Curry-esq superstar. Either that or the 6’2″ guard may be one of the biggest busts in recent memory. Young can flat-out shoot the ball, there is no doubting that.

He looked okay in the Summer League and has made waves with a number of workout videos. When the games matter, and NBA defense’s have game plans specifically made to stop you, it may not look as good though. Young made his name off of volume in college and while he will get a ton of opportunities with the Hawks, he’ll have to improve his efficiency to be successful.

Young will need to prove he can contribute in other ways and still be a factor when his shot isn’t falling. I have my doubts.

Clutch Points

[macd-gm]

"Young made his name off volume in college". Volume of points and assists maybe. It's not like he was just known for the shear number of shots he took.

[Jamaaliver]

Reason 2 seems a really valid reason, other than that...meh. I still lean towards bringing him off the bench early and developing him slowly.

3 Reasons Why Trae Young Should Start Immediately

Since committing to a full rebuild, the Hawks have been looking for a player to build their team around.The Atlanta Hawks have seemingly found their franchise cornerstone in Trae Young.

Since the Hawks will likely miss the playoffs again, there’s no reason why Young shouldn’t start in as many games as possible. The biggest factor in the development of a young player is experience, and giving Young the chance to be a focal point of the team on a nightly basis should be positive for him.

Here are three reasons the Atlanta Hawks should allow Trae Young to start from day one:

#1: Allowing Him To Start Is A Vote of Confidence

The best thing the Atlanta Hawks can do when it comes to Trae Young is to immediately make him the starting point guard. Making Young the starter would be a resounding statement from the front office, a statement that says they trust him to succeed.

As a starter, Young would learn about life as a premier NBA point guard, and would be matched up against some of the best players in the world on a nightly basis.


#2: Starting Him Will Build Team Chemistry

By trading up in the draft to acquire Young, it’s clear that the Hawks believe he will be a key member of the team for years to come. Since the strongest teams in the NBA have a solid core, what better way to establish that in Atlanta than to let young players play together? Trae Young and John Collins can become a duo the Hawks build their team around – especially if they learn to play alongside one another and cater to each other’s strengths.


#3: Starting Him Shows A Clear Direction

By drafting Trae Young (and to a lesser extent Kevin Huerter), it’s clear that the Hawks want to emulate the Golden State Warriors. Young would play the role of Stephen Curry, and the Warriors have used Curry in many different ways over his career. Curry can play as a main facilitator, an isolation player, and even finding open shots coming off of screens and off-ball movement.

Starting Young, especially at this stage in his career, can help him develop the traits to make him a multidimensional player. Trae Young struggled with shot selection as a college player, and getting game time can help him unlearn bad habits. He can find where he feels most comfortable on the floor, and also understand where his teammates feel comfortable.



Trae Young has the potential to be a great player, and if the Atlanta Hawks want to help make that potential a reality, they should start him at point guard as soon as possible.

NBAAnalysis.net

[macd-gm]

He's going to be the focus of the media and the fans. If Lin wasn't gimpy i'd say go with with Lin at first but I am kind of at the why not point. the only reason not to start him is if you feel like it could damage his development.

[Jamaaliver]

He's going to be the focus of the media and the fans. If Lin wasn't gimpy i'd say go with with Lin at first but I am kind of at the why not point. the only reason not to start him is if you feel like it could damage his development.

This is very fair.

I tend to skew towards being cautious when developing kids this young.

I am concerned that there isn't a proven, healthy, experienced option at PG behind Trae and Jeremy.


My biggest concern starting Trae is the development of the other young players on the squad. Looking back at Utah where TY had a green light -- Trae looked bad...like most rookie PGs do. But the team looked awful overall.


In Utah SL, we were the worst team offensively and defensively. We were the only team that didn't win a game. I think Trae's poor play (and Lloyd's poor coaching) were the primary culprits.


There were a few possessions where Dorsey and other young guards seemed to ice out Trae and refuse to pass him the ball because he wasn't getting teammates involved. It's a thin line PGs have to walk -- choosing between finding their own shots versus creating for others. If he's going multiple possessions without getting the ball to Collins or Taurean...I foresee issues with vets coming into play early.

[Roy Tarpley]

I think I support having Lin start, and bring in Trae slowly approach. But Lin's own readiness will play a factor. He's basically cleared for all basketball activities, but can he get up to game speed over the next three weeks without having played a full contact, 5-on-5, full speed game in a year? Lin may not even be capable of starting at this point.

[Jamaaliver]

Now this is interesting. An acknowledgement that we all knew was true, but was likely to be denied by management:

Read on Twitter

[ChokeFasncists]

Lets hope Lin is healthy enough so he can start and stay healthy.

The main reason for me not to start Trey would be his physical readiness. It's good to prevent the rookie wall.

Only two more years of Plumlee.

[Jamaaliver]

Welp...the decision has been made. I can't see naming Trae starter now and then benching him in the regular season. (Unless he's a complete train wreck.)

Read on Twitter

I guess we're all in on TY being the man sooner than later.

Who wants to start the Young Trae for Rookie of the Year thread?

[ChokeFasncists]

Perhaps Trey is more ready than we think, or maybe it's Lin that's not quite ready yet?

[jayu70]

Perhaps Trey is more ready than we think, or maybe it's Lin that's not quite ready yet?

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

Great passer, questionable decision making.

A solid, exciting debut -- all things considered.

Read on Twitter

(In your face, Mavs fans!)

[jayu70]

This is where Vince Carter will really help:

Carter, who is playing in his 21st NBA season, agrees. Fans may look at Young’s first-half stats and see he was 1-for-11, but Young’s game went much deeper than the box score shooting stats. Staying engaged despite a poor shooting night is what Carter was most impressed with.

“He still found other guys and got us going,” Carter said. “At the end of the day, he’s 1-for-11, but that scoreboard means something to me. He’s the point guard, so he has to make plays for us. He was able to do that. This is one game of 87. We still have 86 games to where he wants his percentage to be.”

[Jamaaliver]

From The Athletic:

Hawks want Young to keep shooting, continue to find other ways to help team win



on Trae Young’s 12th shot attempt in Atlanta’s 116-102 win over New Orleans on Monday night, the rookie released a sigh of relief.

Young started his first preseason game 1-for-11 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range, but on his 12th attempt, he drained a corner 3. A few possessions later, in transition, Young drove inside the lane for a tough layup, and then on the ensuing possession, a steal from John Collins led to an 11-foot floater from Young, which gave the Hawks a one-point lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the preseason opener.

It was that four-minute stretch for Young that served as a reminder that even though he missed 10 shots in the first half, he has to keep attacking and putting up shots because that’s what Atlanta brought him to the city to do — shoot. Vince Carter told him during the game that he needs to play his game if the shots are falling or not.

“Shoot it,” Carter said on his advice to Young. "The mentality doesn’t change. He’s a point guard that can score, and he can make plays for other people. Be the Trae Young that they drafted.”

The Trae Young Atlanta drafted isn’t just a high-volume shooter; he’s also a point guard with elite vision, which was showcased Monday night.

In the second quarter, off a pick-and-roll, Young threw a pass off the backboard to Collins for an alley-oop. Young said he and Collins have been working on that during drills in practice dating back to Summer League. They were waiting for a moment to do it in a game.

“I think his greatest skill is he can facilitate,” Pierce said. “He can find guys. When you have a player with the ability to find guys in creative ways, he’s fun to play with."

Pierce wants Young to stay aggressive. He wants Young to get downhill. The shots are going to fall more consistently, eventually.

Part of the reason why Pierce started Young over Jeremy Lin was to throw Young out there immediately when the stakes of preseason basketball aren’t as important. Pierce just wanted Young to start for the experience.

[ChokeFasncists]

It's just preseason. Keep shooting.

He's gonna be fine offensively. It's defensively and physically that are worrisome.

Probably hits the rookie wall hard if Lin's limited.

It's a good approach, serious patience with Lin, no re-injury, play him more when things are settled, later on play Trey more when he's ready.

He's a ball of energy, more suitable off the bench at the moment. Luckily Lin looks pretty healthy and composed out there.

[Jamaaliver]

Hot take from one of the least likeable sports personalities in the game -- Luka for Trae is one of 5 worst trades of the century?

Watch on YouTube

[kg01]

Hot take from one of the least likeable sports personalities in the game -- Luka for Trae is one of 5 worst trades of the century?

Watch on YouTube

I want to live in a world where we let this clown drift off into obscurity.

This isn't a shot at you, @jamalllll (for once ). Merely hoping we all just stop paying attention to this random Selltics fan that happened to hit big.

[Jamaaliver]

Sage Steele agrees with you:

Spoiler:

One of your most famous viral moments was when Bill Simmons said on air that he thought he wasn’t getting enough time to speak, and you shot a quick, seemingly meaningful look at the camera. Are you aware of that GIF, and if so has it taught you anything?

I didn’t even know I gave the look, I didn’t even know.

HuffPo

[macd-gm]

Saying it is top 5 worst is just so stupid. It's the kind of comment that should be thrown back in his face down the line every time he makes some stupid comment.

[Jamaaliver]

The trade is a bit of a gamble.

But the trade is nowhere as bad as:

Denver Nuggets trading away the Donovan Mitchell pick for Trey Songz and Tyler Durden.

Or Nets trading a lottery pick (that ended up as Damian Lillard) for 3 months of Gerald Wallace.

Or Nets trading a plethora of lottery picks for the decaying corpses of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

Or Knicks gutting their team in a trade for Carmelo. (When they could have signed him in Free Agency a year later.)

Or Cleveland trading Julio Jones to the Falcons for a plethora of mediocre picks.