Trae Young is Ridiculously Underrated

[hyper316]

Trae Young getting the Isaiah Thomas treatment.

[SA37]

Spoiler:

I love threads like this because people wont say where they rank young whether its active players or just active point guards... They dont want the smoke...

They just wanna say hey put some respek on my bois name!

But u gotta earn that.

If u think Young is underrated...then rank him....

To the OP, I don't think T Young's style of play is suited for international basketball. As far as where he ranks, I'd just start with point guards:

He's definitely behind: Steph Curry, Dame Lillard, Ja Morant, SGA, Jamal Murray, Luka Doncic (are we calling him a pg?)

I'd place him behind: Haliburton, Fox, J Brunson, C Paul, Kyrie Irving, Jrue Holiday

He's in a group with: Harden, LaMelo Ball, Garland, Cade, FVV

So, somewhere between 7-12 is prob appropriate, depending on what one values. That says a lot more about the quality of the point guards in the league than it does about any deficiencies/weaknesses Young has. (Apologies if I have forgotten any players.)

I don’t think Paul at this point should be a tier over Trae and guys like Ball, Cade, FVV are not on the same level….worst stats / analytics. Like how is Cade 17.8 ppg on 51 ts% on bad teams and not great analytics on the same level as Trae? Yes he has potential but not even sure he’s a positive player at this point.

Those are all fair points.

As I said, it kind of depends on what you value, and in a vacuum it's hard to evaluate how a player might fit with a team, what role they'd be expected to play...etc and then weighing that versus their salaries and off-court contributions.

I really like Paul and I think he is still an All-star level player despite not having All-star numbers. If you need him to be that All-star 82 games a year, well he's not going to be that guy anymore. I still think the leadership, basketball IQ, and the intangibles he brings to a team is more valuable than what some statistically better and/or more talented players bring. But Paul is not a better fit/option than Young for every team.

Statistically, James Harden (reg season) and Russell Westbrook (this past postseason) are potentially MVP candidates, but there are tradeoffs that many think are detrimental to teams both on and off the court. Kyrie Irving also fits into this category.

All that to say I think Young is a heck of a player, but I see him as closer to the middle part of the the rankings (10-15) than as someone who is a top-tier pg (or player generally).

[Pelly24]

I love threads like this because people wont say where they rank young whether its active players or just active point guards... They dont want the smoke...

They just wanna say hey put some respek on my bois name!

But u gotta earn that.

If u think Young is underrated...then rank him....

lol I've got no problem ranking him. Here's my list:

1. Jokic
2. Giannis
3. Luka
4. Steph
5. Embiid
6. LeBron
7. Jimmy Butler
8. Damian Lillard
9. Tatum
10. KD
11. AD
12. Ja Morant
13. Donovan Mitchell
14. SGA
15. Devin Booker
16. Jaren Jackson Jr.
17. Kawhi (top 10 if healthy)
18. Trae Young
19. Haliburton
20. Paul George
21. DeAaron Fox
22. Jamal Murray
23. Kyrie
24. Bam
25. Jalen Brunson/Harden

These are give or take a few things, takes into consideration availability, ceiling, consistent output, most recent pinnacles.

[SlovenianDragon]

I love threads like this because people wont say where they rank young whether its active players or just active point guards... They dont want the smoke...

They just wanna say hey put some respek on my bois name!

But u gotta earn that.

If u think Young is underrated...then rank him....

lol I've got no problem ranking him. Here's my list:

1. Jokic
2. Giannis
3. Luka
4. Steph
5. Embiid
6. LeBron
7. Jimmy Butler
8. Damian Lillard
9. Tatum
10. KD
11. AD
12. Ja Morant
13. Donovan Mitchell
14. SGA
15. Devin Booker
16. Jaren Jackson Jr.
17. Kawhi (top 10 if healthy)
18. Trae Young
19. Haliburton
20. Paul George
21. DeAaron Fox
22. Jamal Murray
23. Kyrie
24. Bam
25. Jalen Brunson/Harden

These are give or take a few things, takes into consideration availability, ceiling, consistent output, most recent pinnacles.

Confirmed what I wanted to know...thanks.

[ShootersShoot]

Like just about every all star player that isnt a superstar, trae has his flaws...but without him, ATL would be an absolute dumpster fire of a team. With him, they are a playoff team. Brunson had an overall more efficient 22/23 season and his team had a better record, and I can see why they wouldnt want 3 star point guards on the same team as there's only so many minutes to go around. But if neither brunson or hali were available, trae probably gets the invite. I think team usa most likely thought brunson/hali would be better fit next to other high usage guys, and I think they made the right call, although imo trae would look absolutely fantastic with other star guys.

[RoyceDa59]

Trae is great but he’s only effective when he’s the #1 options and the entire team revolves around him. I don’t see his game blending in well with tones of other stars, especially because he isn’t a good defender, rebounder or off ball player. And Team USA has better 1st options to choose from, so adding Trae makes little sense.

[Duffman100]

Weird timing considering how badly he shot last year.

[clyde21]

way closer to being overrated than underrated

[Rainwater]

I think Trae is pretty overrated to be honest.

[Rainwater]

I love threads like this because people wont say where they rank young whether its active players or just active point guards... They dont want the smoke...

They just wanna say hey put some respek on my bois name!

But u gotta earn that.

If u think Young is underrated...then rank him....

lol I've got no problem ranking him. Here's my list:

1. Jokic
2. Giannis
3. Luka
4. Steph
5. Embiid
6. LeBron
7. Jimmy Butler
8. Damian Lillard
9. Tatum
10. KD
11. AD
12. Ja Morant
13. Donovan Mitchell
14. SGA
15. Devin Booker
16. Jaren Jackson Jr.
17. Kawhi (top 10 if healthy)
18. Trae Young
19. Haliburton
20. Paul George
21. DeAaron Fox
22. Jamal Murray
23. Kyrie
24. Bam
25. Jalen Brunson/Harden

These are give or take a few things, takes into consideration availability, ceiling, consistent output, most recent pinnacles.

Trae is not better than any of those guys below him.

[CP3nthusiast]

If he learned to get off the ball quicker and play off of others, he'd be a much better player. His stats would go down but he'd win more games. You just can't go very far with a 6'1 ball dominant guard as your best player. He could maybe have one Finals run with an supporting cast of great defensive players and a great deal of injury luck in the playoffs, a la 2001 Sixers, but that's about it.

Let me ask the Trae boosters just one question. Doesn't it bother you that after his team finally acquired another ball handler, his usage rate only went down by 1.8% and his percentage of three point FGs assisted only went up by 1.2%? Your argument as to why he hasn't had more team success has always been that he has never had a teammate who can create for himself and others. Well, this year he did and he ended up winning fewer games.

[Ball4life32]

I love threads like this because people wont say where they rank young whether its active players or just active point guards... They dont want the smoke...

They just wanna say hey put some respek on my bois name!

But u gotta earn that.

If u think Young is underrated...then rank him....

lol I've got no problem ranking him. Here's my list:

1. Jokic
2. Giannis
3. Luka
4. Steph
5. Embiid
6. LeBron
7. Jimmy Butler
8. Damian Lillard
9. Tatum
10. KD
11. AD
12. Ja Morant
13. Donovan Mitchell
14. SGA
15. Devin Booker
16. Jaren Jackson Jr.
17. Kawhi (top 10 if healthy)
18. Trae Young
19. Haliburton
20. Paul George
21. DeAaron Fox
22. Jamal Murray
23. Kyrie
24. Bam
25. Jalen Brunson/Harden

These are give or take a few things, takes into consideration availability, ceiling, consistent output, most recent pinnacles.

Trae is not better than any of those guys below him.

So he’s not even a top 26 player according to this board but he’s also overrated? Which one is it?

[Ball4life32]

If he learned to get off the ball quicker and play off of others, he'd be a much better player. His stats would go down but he'd win more games. You just can't go very far with a 6'1 ball dominant guard as your best player. He could maybe have one Finals run with an supporting cast of great defensive players and a great deal of injury luck in the playoffs, a la 2001 Sixers, but that's about it.

Let me ask the Trae boosters just one question. Doesn't it bother you that after his team finally acquired another ball handler, his usage rate only went down by 1.8% and his percentage of three point FGs assisted only went up by 1.2%? Your argument as to why he hasn't had more team success has always been that he has never had a teammate who can create for himself and others. Well, this year he did and he ended up winning fewer games.

Let’s look at the talent around him….according to offensive Raptor

Trae +4.9
Murray +0.7
Hunter -1.1
Collins -2.5 (fell off due to injuries)
Capela +0.6

Capela is only positive thanks to Trae’s passing. Hawks still led the East in scoring but people talk more about turnovers and fg%. And some of the poor shooting is because hawks had terrible spacing around him.

[jayu70]

If he learned to get off the ball quicker and play off of others, he'd be a much better player. His stats would go down but he'd win more games. You just can't go very far with a 6'1 ball dominant guard as your best player. He could maybe have one Finals run with an supporting cast of great defensive players and a great deal of injury luck in the playoffs, a la 2001 Sixers, but that's about it.

Let me ask the Trae boosters just one question. Doesn't it bother you that after his team finally acquired another ball handler, his usage rate only went down by 1.8% and his percentage of three point FGs assisted only went up by 1.2%? Your argument as to why he hasn't had more team success has always been that he has never had a teammate who can create for himself and others. Well, this year he did and he ended up winning fewer games.

I'll just repost what we've discussed on the Hawks board dating back to last November/December and from.when Quin took over:

.....you have to move Trae off-ball with PURPOSE and INTENTION - not just move to move. Design an actual offense that does that.
McMillan's offense was designed to try and create a mismatch and attack it which leads to one on one play. Nate's offense was about the midrange at the start of the season he said he didn't care what analytics said about 3pt shooting and I think it trickled down to the team. Since Quin has taken over, Trae said the team is getting used to just letting the 3 fly as opposed to waiting for the closeout then attacking. A very antiquated system by Nate. (And before anyone says he was successful in the playoff run, Nate kept Pierce's system but tweeked it, this past year he had his own coaches and system).

I'm hoping with Quin we see improvement in the offensive philosophy.
 
From a December Article:
[b]It's hard to even say McMillan has instituted any kind of offensive system. Any shot the Hawks get is a result of individual creation, almost entirely by either Young or Murray.[/b] The Hawks make the fewest passes per game in the league by a wide margin, and their off-ball movement is virtually nonexistent. [b]Young still hasn't committed to that aspect of his game, and that's on him, but to be fair McMillan hasn't implemented the kind of impromptu screening and cutting culture required to make the movement of a player like Young consistently worthwhile. It takes everyone working together and in anticipation to free up a shooter, not just one guy running around.[/b]
To be fair, the Hawks finished with the No. 2 offense last season playing largely the same way, ..........but the your-turn-my-turn creation philosophy with Young and Murray feels positively pick-upish. There needs to be a system that can create shots for the shot creators. 

McMillan has not proven he's the guy to institute that kind of thing, either because he doesn't believe in such an offense, lacks the creativity to put it in play, or can't get the players, specifically Young, who's used to controlling everything with the ball in his hands, to buy into such a change

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/trae-young-gives-hawks-a-punchers-chance-now-but-their-real-window-should-open-in-a-few-years/amp/

[jokeboy86]

Not with those shooting percentages he's not.

[JustBuzzin]

He's better than Luka honestly.

Dude has already led his to the ECF.

Luka doesn't get far in the playoffs.

[jokeboy86]

He's better than Luka honestly.

Dude has already led his to the ECF.

Luka doesn't get far in the playoffs.

You're absolutely right and this need to be noted that Luka has never led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals....



Because he doesn't play in the East. But he has led his team to the Western Conference Finals

[BarbaGrizz]

a 43/35/89 2.5 apg/to PG who is the worst defender in the entire league having to thread defending that he´s underrated show how overrated he is.

But yes, he went to the ECF once.

[Ball4life32]

a 43/35/89 2.5 apg/to PG who is the worst defender in the entire league having to thread defending that he´s underrated show how overrated he is.

But yes, he went to the ECF once.

He has those splits on 26/9/3 career averages and 58 Ts% plus worst defense according to what? Maybe in the past but not anymore.

[ShootersShoot]

He's better than Luka honestly.

Dude has already led his to the ECF.

Luka doesn't get far in the playoffs.

Ever heard of the *checks notes* WESTERN conference finals?