Trae Young is Ridiculously Underrated

[SkyBill40]

Wow this roster is trash.. how Edwards and Banchero your best players.. they not even ready to carry their own teams in the league but are expected to carry an Olympic team.. This gota be a joke.. I’m watchin the game right now against PR this team worse than a rising stars rookies vs sophomores all star game.. these players are really lacking with the whole not wanting to participate in this event.. I miss when everyone knew the USA couldn’t be touched in the World Cup

To be fair, Young's inclusion wouldn't have changed anything to markedly improve it. There's a poor mix of players on this team and Young isn't helping as much as you might like to believe.

[Ball4life32]

I don’t understand how you can watch TY and think he’s a good player

Shocked considering you claimed he was a 6th man, I doubt you watch many of the games. If Trae wasn’t good hawks arent a playoff team or sniff an ECF. Also he was talking about Nash not Trae.

He's a tiny chucker who can't play defense.

Tiny chuckers average 26/9/3 for their career on 58 ts%. Hawks a playoff team 3 year in row with him as the #1 and dude is only 24….you would think they were bottom 5 team for how he’s described… inefficient tiny chucker that plays zero defense, turns the ball over and just isn’t very good. But also he’s overrated. How low does he have to rank to be labeled underrated or properly ranked? It seems most in this thread don’t rate him high.

You’re going to be talking about that ECF run in 10 years when that’s the farthest he ever gets…

No one has any clue about the next 10 years yet but ok. Not saying he will or won’t but no one thought he’d make the ECF 2 years ago either.

[Rainwater]

TS% is a terrible stat to gauge efficiency, it’s only a good stat to gauge how good of a scorer it is.

Are these not the exact same thing? Being good at scoring is scoring efficiently.

Uh, no. Effectively and efficiently are not the same. Young is a volume scorer, not an efficient one by any stretch.

Sent from my [Samsung Z4 Fold] using RealGM mobile app

Yes, just because you get points doesn’t mean it’s efficient.

[Rainwater]

Getting to the line is part of the game. 26 points on 19 shots a game isn’t terrible and yes I know he got off to horrible start but he shot 45/37 splits in his last 47 games…..he also had terrible spacing around him this season mainly due to the frontcourt with Collins shooting under 30% from 3 (his shot fell off after his finger injury), non shooter in Capela + two other guys were at 35% or below. And I only mentioned multiple times in this thread he is bad defender….i just don’t think he is the worst defender in the league anymore. Some of his dmetrics improved.

-0.9 DRaptor
-0.5 depm (48th percentile)

I didn’t say getting to the free throw line wasn’t part of the game, I said ts% is a terrible way to gauge efficiency from the field. Trae is pretty much has a 43% percent FG avg he has only had one season where has shoot over 45% percent in the 5 years he has been in the league. Trae may not be the worst defender in the league but the dude is still bad.

Why is TS% a terrible gauge of efficiency? Getting fouled and making 2 free throws is the same (or possibly better) than making a layup. It also puts the other team in foul trouble, gets your team in the bonus faster.

If Shaq could shoot FTs, how much better of a scorer would he have been?

TS% is a GREAT way of measuring overall scoring efficiency.

TS% does not gauge efficiency at all; if anything, it can hide how inefficient you are. There are so many games where Trae would go sub 40% from the field but the mere fact he gets to the line hides the inefficiency. The TS% shows he is good at getting points but it’s definitely doesn’t mean it’s efficient.

[Pelly24]

And what happens if Morant has a big year, causes no issues and wants to play to help rehabilitate his image? He’s a better player than Trae

In what way is Ja a better player than Trae? More flash?

Trae is the better shooter, scorer, passer, playmaker. Is the gap THAT big defensively?

Trae would look wildly different with JJJ (a top 20 player and POY who will keep getting better) and Desmond Bane (top 30ish guy) on his team. He's already been to the conference finals *without* an elite teammate.

[SeanieWard]

I agree. Trae Young isn't a good defender by any means but the top PGs in the league aren't either. Luka, Steph, and Dame are all liabilities on defense many nights. Now Trae isn't as good as them but he's still a damn good player. He basically ruined the Embiid and Simmons led Philly team. No matter how bad Simmons played, if they go on to beat the Hawks, which they should have, that team might still be together today competing in the Eastern Conference but Trae took it to them and the rest is history. He also went into the Garden in the playoffs and silenced a very hostile crowd. Can he improve in efficiency and turnovers? Certainly but he's still big time imo

I mean if we fixed every1s flaws they would get better... As of now Trae is one of the most flawed players in the league... And despite what you think hes a terrible playoff performer... Hes already one of those guys that gets worse in the playoffs... His already bad FG% gets worse...His already bad 3pt % gets worse and his already bad turnovers gets worse...

Fixing everyone's flaw wasn't my point. I think he's a damn good player today and agree with the post that he's being underrated. Trae was inefficient last season but the year before that he shot 46% from the field and 38% from 3 which is pretty good. I think he can return to that hence why I said I believe he can improve his efficiency.

You're right about him in the playoffs. Players shooting worst in the playoffs is pretty typical however. His turnovers are bad but he has a better assist to turnover ratio than guys like Dame, Luka, Bron, ect. so I think that is being overblown as well.

Flawed player indeed but is becoming underrated imho

[NDaATL]

I didn’t say getting to the free throw line wasn’t part of the game, I said ts% is a terrible way to gauge efficiency from the field. Trae is pretty much has a 43% percent FG avg he has only had one season where has shoot over 45% percent in the 5 years he has been in the league. Trae may not be the worst defender in the league but the dude is still bad.

Why is TS% a terrible gauge of efficiency? Getting fouled and making 2 free throws is the same (or possibly better) than making a layup. It also puts the other team in foul trouble, gets your team in the bonus faster.

If Shaq could shoot FTs, how much better of a scorer would he have been?

TS% is a GREAT way of measuring overall scoring efficiency.

TS% does not gauge efficiency at all; if anything, it can hide how inefficient you are. There are so many games where Trae would go sub 40% from the field but the mere fact he gets to the line hides the inefficiency. The TS% shows he is good at getting points but it’s definitely doesn’t mean it’s efficient.

Scoring efficiency is the only thing that matters. Why are you so insistent on isolating FG% separately and not including a clear strength that makes him a much better scorer? Do you think Shaq wouldn't have been more efficient or a better scorer if he could shoot 75% from FT?

If you blow by your defender for a wide open layup, and he decides to wrap you up and force you to make the free throws and you do, how is that less efficient than him letting you go in for the layup? This is basically what you are arguing.

Noone can stay in front of Trae and he gets into the lane at will, and he's such a great passer on top of that defenses are routinely out of position. Just look at Hawks offensive efficiency over the last few years. It's not like he is starting with supremely gifted offensive players. The dude is literally leading Clint Capela/John Collins/Deandre Hunter/DJM to a top 5 offense the last 2 years. Hell we were top 2 two seasons ago with Heurter. Do those lineups look like top 5 offenses?

But sure he isn't "efficient" from the field. Let's not count TS% even though many games are won and closed out with free throws and they also place opposing teams in foul trouble, and also get your team in bonus faster which usually leads to big runs.

[NDaATL]

And what happens if Morant has a big year, causes no issues and wants to play to help rehabilitate his image? He’s a better player than Trae

In what way is Ja a better player than Trae? More flash?

Trae is the better shooter, scorer, passer, playmaker. Is the gap THAT big defensively?

Trae would look wildly different with JJJ (a top 20 player and POY who will keep getting better) and Desmond Bane (top 30ish guy) on his team. He's already been to the conference finals *without* an elite teammate.

In that ECF run DeAndre Hunter missed virtually the entire season and didn't even play after the Knicks series, and Bogi was playing on one leg. It was literally all Trae. A few guys stepped up and made shots of course, but he closed out virtually every one of those games. They couldn't guard him and he broke down the defenses at will.

He had 2 bad shooting games out of 7 against Philly so everyone tries to act like he had a bad series. In one of those he had 18 assists, in the other he made the dagger 3 pointer in game 7 on the road and the key FTs at the end to close the game. And Philly was the best defensive team in the league.

[Butterfingers1]

Trae Young is one of those players that just having him on your team makes you a top offense in the league. Similar to Nash where the Suns were #1 or #2 offense every year of his prime.

Young’s defense is bad, but he did compete more on that end this season. To me, this was definitely a down year for Trae Young offensively, but his team-offense carrying should be acknowledged, even though he needs to work on his actions off-ball, which we’ll see how he looks with a new coach.

[Pelly24]

In what way is Ja a better player than Trae? More flash?

Trae is the better shooter, scorer, passer, playmaker. Is the gap THAT big defensively?

Trae would look wildly different with JJJ (a top 20 player and POY who will keep getting better) and Desmond Bane (top 30ish guy) on his team. He's already been to the conference finals *without* an elite teammate.

In that ECF run DeAndre Hunter missed virtually the entire season and didn't even play after the Knicks series, and Bogi was playing on one leg. It was literally all Trae. A few guys stepped up and made shots of course, but he closed out virtually every one of those games. They couldn't guard him and he broke down the defenses at will.

He had 2 bad shooting games out of 7 against Philly so everyone tries to act like he had a bad series. In one of those he had 18 assists, in the other he made the dagger 3 pointer in game 7 on the road and the key FTs at the end to close the game. And Philly was the best defensive team in the league.

Yeah, people see what they want to see, but there are very, very few players I see doing better than him in those situations. He was unreal, and that was really all I needed to see, I knew he was a championship type talent after that. Get him a two-way wing or a great big man and the hawks would be perennial contenders. His first step and court vision and shotmaking and handle are all just too much to guard. He doesn't get tired either, just gets stronger.

[Rainwater]

Why is TS% a terrible gauge of efficiency? Getting fouled and making 2 free throws is the same (or possibly better) than making a layup. It also puts the other team in foul trouble, gets your team in the bonus faster.

If Shaq could shoot FTs, how much better of a scorer would he have been?

TS% is a GREAT way of measuring overall scoring efficiency.

TS% does not gauge efficiency at all; if anything, it can hide how inefficient you are. There are so many games where Trae would go sub 40% from the field but the mere fact he gets to the line hides the inefficiency. The TS% shows he is good at getting points but it’s definitely doesn’t mean it’s efficient.

Scoring efficiency is the only thing that matters. Why are you so insistent on isolating FG% separately and not including a clear strength that makes him a much better scorer? Do you think Shaq wouldn't have been more efficient or a better scorer if he could shoot 75% from FT?

If you blow by your defender for a wide open layup, and he decides to wrap you up and force you to make the free throws and you do, how is that less efficient than him letting you go in for the layup? This is basically what you are arguing.

Noone can stay in front of Trae and he gets into the lane at will, and he's such a great passer on top of that defenses are routinely out of position. Just look at Hawks offensive efficiency over the last few years. It's not like he is starting with supremely gifted offensive players. The dude is literally leading Clint Capela/John Collins/Deandre Hunter/DJM to a top 5 offense the last 2 years. Hell we were top 2 two seasons ago with Heurter. Do those lineups look like top 5 offenses?

But sure he isn't "efficient" from the field. Let's not count TS% even though many games are won and closed out with free throws and they also place opposing teams in foul trouble, and also get your team in bonus faster which usually leads to big runs.

When did I say let’s not count TS%? TS% has value. However it’s a terrible stat to use to determine shooting efficiency, it’s a better stat to determine scoring ability. If you want to count a foul as a shot that is your objective however in reality that doesn’t make you efficient. You can be good at getting points but that doesn’t mean you are an efficient shooter.

When Trae is taking 30 shots and makes 11, something he does quite often, I don’t think that leads to long term success for the hawks regardless of how many free throws he takes.

[thinktank]

He’s a horrendous defender. He barely shot league average last year. He makes a ton of turnovers. He’s a good passer but it doesn’t undo the other things. I go the other way, he’s one of the most overrated players. He can be fun to watch at times but I don’t see how you are a real contender if he’s your best or even second best player. He would be great though with a pair of And 1 shoes playing the street ball circuit.

Exactly.

He’s a 1 on 1 stud which elevates him to a 2 on 2 player (beats his man and can lob it), but pro ball is 5 on 5.

[CBS7]

Trae's turnovers are high because he's ball dominant. If you have the ball more, you're going to turn the ball over more. His TOV% for his career isn't much higher than all of the other young PGs.

He's still a bad defender though.

[Charlesareed]

This is one of those situations where Trae will one day end up on a team that's actually good enough to compete, and then people will act like he's undergone some major transformation lol. Like, "He truly learned how to win" "he's really matured," etc. lol. Trae and Jimmy would have *eviscerated* the Celtics in 5 or 6 games (esp. if jimmy never hurt his ankle). If Trae were on the Sixers they probably would've made the finals by now. He's a bad defender, bad locker room presence maybe, but guys that can pass and hit shots like him and get to the line like him and get anywhere they want anytime they want like him are very, very rare talents. None of the guards taken over him fr this USA team have truly done more than he has, but there's recency bias.

I really cant tell if ur just trolling now...

Lol this happens literally all the time, no matter how many times it unfolds this way, people will forget the lesson. Devin Booker went from an empty stats guy to a franchise talent, Kyrie went from a guy GMs didn't think deserved a max contract after his first three years to the second-best player on a championship team. Bradley Beal will go from a non-playoff contender to a squad with KD and Devin Booker, where he'll now be written about as a true winner who learned to win once he joined a team with two superstars. DeAaron Fox gets a good team and finally gets the respect he deserves. If he goes to the heat, Dame will be seen as a top 5 player by season's end, and people will act like he's changed his game significantly when really he just has an All-NBA teammate for the first time in 10 years.

You can mitigate locker room stuff and bad defense, but when it comes down to it, if there's a guy with elite offensive talent, you can always find a way to make them work on a great team.

This right here being on a good team can change the narrative for anyone winning cures all in sports if trey played for the Lakers Celtics Heat suns gsw he’d be viewed differently the recent mvp embiid has done far less and it’s highly regarded when he’s an empty stats guy himself he misses half the games and shrinks in the playoffs

[LordCovington33]

Last season Trae Young had an defensive rating (119.2). His defence is so bad that it makes his team worse off.

[Profound23]

OP misspelled over as under.

[NDaATL]

TS% does not gauge efficiency at all; if anything, it can hide how inefficient you are. There are so many games where Trae would go sub 40% from the field but the mere fact he gets to the line hides the inefficiency. The TS% shows he is good at getting points but it’s definitely doesn’t mean it’s efficient.

Scoring efficiency is the only thing that matters. Why are you so insistent on isolating FG% separately and not including a clear strength that makes him a much better scorer? Do you think Shaq wouldn't have been more efficient or a better scorer if he could shoot 75% from FT?

If you blow by your defender for a wide open layup, and he decides to wrap you up and force you to make the free throws and you do, how is that less efficient than him letting you go in for the layup? This is basically what you are arguing.

Noone can stay in front of Trae and he gets into the lane at will, and he's such a great passer on top of that defenses are routinely out of position. Just look at Hawks offensive efficiency over the last few years. It's not like he is starting with supremely gifted offensive players. The dude is literally leading Clint Capela/John Collins/Deandre Hunter/DJM to a top 5 offense the last 2 years. Hell we were top 2 two seasons ago with Heurter. Do those lineups look like top 5 offenses?

But sure he isn't "efficient" from the field. Let's not count TS% even though many games are won and closed out with free throws and they also place opposing teams in foul trouble, and also get your team in bonus faster which usually leads to big runs.

When did I say let’s not count TS%? TS% has value. However it’s a terrible stat to use to determine shooting efficiency, it’s a better stat to determine scoring ability. If you want to count a foul as a shot that is your objective however in reality that doesn’t make you efficient. You can be good at getting points but that doesn’t mean you are an efficient shooter.

When Trae is taking 30 shots and makes 11, something he does quite often, I don’t think that leads to long term success for the hawks regardless of how many free throws he takes.

Um. This is like saying FG% is a terrible stat to determine rebound %. Of course TS% isn't a great stat to determine shooting ability from the field, it's not supposed to be. That's not my point. I don't give a damn how a player scores as long as he scores efficiently. Why wouldn't scoring ability be the only thing that matters? I dont care if he shot 0% of the field, if he had a 70% TS% scoring 30 ppg that's a winning player that anyone would want on their team. Now that might be a boring player to watch but it would be highly efficient.

Player A - 1-2 from the field, 2 points. Defense let him finish layup untouched.
Player B - 0-1 from the field 2-2 FT, 2 points. Defense hacked sending him to the line for 2.

You are arguing that Player A is better. Which is ridiculous. It's the same outcome.
Except player B drew a foul and is one step closer to putting his team in the bonus. It's arguable that B is the better outcome.

[Meeksology]

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

Oh gawd, please try and not quote that poster. I hardly have anyone on my block list but he is one of them. This is the first post of his Ive seen since blocking him and looking at that post I 100% know I made the right decision.

[best of luck]

As a Magic fan that was desperate for him or Luka, we got Mo Bamba and couldn’t trade up.

He has his faults like many top players, but he’s young and in a shooters league has a great chance to push his career upwards.

[liquidswords]

um idk about ridiculously. he's getting overlooked recently because there are high efficiency 2-way PGs ahead of him. what's really hurting Trae is his defense - he's an absolute cone and he gets put in the spin cycle in the PNR