Trae Young is Ridiculously Underrated

[Jamaaliver]

I don’t think anyone disagrees that Trae is great at the things he does great.

But if you are rating (or under-rating) a basketball player, you need to rate the player as a whole.

I think what perplexes Trae's fans is that other star guards don't seem to get the same scrutiny.

Luka, SGA, Haliburton, Ja seem to get passes on their flaws and only focus on the production.



PS This is extraordinary production on unreal efficiency.

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[shrink]

I don’t think anyone disagrees that Trae is great at the things he does great.

But if you are rating (or under-rating) a basketball player, you need to rate the player as a whole.

I think what perplexes Trae's fans is that other star guards don't seem to get the same scrutiny.

Luka, Haliburton, Ja seem to get passes on their flaws and only focus on the production.

Even if this is (“but, some other guy ..!”) argument is true, continuing to post tweet after tweet about Trae’s offense is not going to change anyone’s mind.

Everyone knows Trae is great offensively. As I said, he needs to be better defensively to shift people’s ratings.

[HMFFL]

Half of the league is capable of scoring points. What matters is the impact.

Look at his team and realize Trae's frontcourt is garbage. Jalen Johnson has a promising future but the teams high lottery picks, Hunter, and OO have been underwhelming.

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[Jamaaliver]

Everyone knows Trae is great offensively. As I said, he needs to be better defensively to shift people’s ratings.

He has been...you just haven't bothered to notice.

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[Jamaaliver]

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[dygaction]

I don’t think anyone disagrees that Trae is great at the things he does great.

But if you are rating (or under-rating) a basketball player, you need to rate the player as a whole.

I think what perplexes Trae's fans is that other star guards don't seem to get the same scrutiny.

Luka, SGA, Haliburton, Ja seem to get passes on their flaws and only focus on the production.



PS This is extraordinary production on unreal efficiency.

Read on Twitter

Trae has been cooking but still not producing the same results yet. Not like Luka/Hali not getting picked for lack of defense or Ja for actions outside the court.
Just by December what you listed:
Trae: 30.4/3.2r/12.2a/1.2s/0.4s/4.9to on 48/42/84 shooting; 4W-9L in 13 games played
Luka: 37.5/8.9r/11.1a/1.5s/0.9b/4.5to on 48/38/80 shooting; 8w-5l in 13 games played; kyrie played 2 games in Dec

[HMFFL]

I don’t think anyone disagrees that Trae is great at the things he does great.

But if you are rating (or under-rating) a basketball player, you need to rate the player as a whole.

I think what perplexes Trae's fans is that other star guards don't seem to get the same scrutiny.

Luka, Haliburton, Ja seem to get passes on their flaws and only focus on the production.

Even if this is (“but, some other guy ..!”) argument is true, continuing to post tweet after tweet about Trae’s offense is not going to change anyone’s mind.

Everyone knows Trae is great offensively. As I said, he needs to be better defensively to shift people’s ratings.

While any players defense has room for improvement, Trae has improved, and it's amusing how fans like you fail to even know that. It's easy to stick to the norm. Whole he's never going to be great at defense you should take notice that he has improved before commenting.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[HMFFL]

I don’t think anyone disagrees that Trae is great at the things he does great.

But if you are rating (or under-rating) a basketball player, you need to rate the player as a whole.

I think what perplexes Trae's fans is that other star guards don't seem to get the same scrutiny.

Luka, SGA, Haliburton, Ja seem to get passes on their flaws and only focus on the production.



PS This is extraordinary production on unreal efficiency.

Read on Twitter

Trae has been cooking but still not producing the same results yet. Not like Luka/Hali not getting picked for lack of defense or Ja for actions outside the court.
Just by December what you listed:
Trae: 30.4/3.2r/12.2a/1.2s/0.4s/4.9to on 48/42/84 shooting; 4W-9L in 13 games played
Luka: 37.5/8.9r/11.1a/1.5s/0.9b/4.5to on 48/38/80 shooting; 8w-5l in 13 games played; kyrie played 2 games in Dec

Everybody with that watches the two knows Luka is better. The majority that watched the two before their draft night knew it too.

Let's keep comparing a 6'7" player to a 6'1" that has a completely different game. I have a hard critic of Trae over the years but he's ballin' this year and shooting 38% from three.

Why compare what's obvious? LOL
Here is a link so you can justify your opinion even more in front of a wall. Atlanta fans won't debate you but will roll there eyes at the Luka is better comments.

https://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/luka_doncic_vs_trae_young.htm

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[shrink]

I think what perplexes Trae's fans is that other star guards don't seem to get the same scrutiny.

Luka, Haliburton, Ja seem to get passes on their flaws and only focus on the production.

Even if this is (“but, some other guy ..!”) argument is true, continuing to post tweet after tweet about Trae’s offense is not going to change anyone’s mind.

Everyone knows Trae is great offensively. As I said, he needs to be better defensively to shift people’s ratings.

While any players defense has room for improvement, Trae has improved, and it's amusing how fans like you fail to even know that. It's easy to stick to the norm. Whole he's never going to be great at defense you should take notice that he has improved before commenting

I commented that flooding us with great offensive tweets isn’t going to change people’s minds on Trae? You disagree with that?

Or will we be treated with more, “but look at his offense!” bragposts? And more, “but but, Luka! Hali! Poor Trae!” excuses?

Look, I don’t even like to talk about defensive metrics, because there is no one good defensive stat. I think you can find a defensive stat to criticize or praise anybody. I checked DRtg, and he was 10th percentile. EPM (if you like plus/minus) says he’s almost average. And clinging to, “better than Trae used to be” does not even mean “okay.” But the bottom line is that Trae isn’t rated (PERCEIVED) higher because people believe his defense, not his offense, is a problem. True or not, multiple vanity posts about his offense are not changing people’s minds about his defense.

Look, I got no dog in this fight. I don’t love or hate Trae. I even called him “great” offensively. I will repeat that if you Trae fans want to convince people he’s under-rated (which is the damn title here), then you should be filling this 35-page thread with defensive evidence. You disagree with that comment?

[HadAnEffectHere]

I do not think Ja gets a pass on his flaws, lmao.

What in the world.

[dygaction]

I think what perplexes Trae's fans is that other star guards don't seem to get the same scrutiny.

Luka, SGA, Haliburton, Ja seem to get passes on their flaws and only focus on the production.



PS This is extraordinary production on unreal efficiency.

Read on Twitter

Trae has been cooking but still not producing the same results yet. Not like Luka/Hali not getting picked for lack of defense or Ja for actions outside the court.
Just by December what you listed:
Trae: 30.4/3.2r/12.2a/1.2s/0.4s/4.9to on 48/42/84 shooting; 4W-9L in 13 games played
Luka: 37.5/8.9r/11.1a/1.5s/0.9b/4.5to on 48/38/80 shooting; 8w-5l in 13 games played; kyrie played 2 games in Dec

Everybody with that watches the two knows Luka is better. The majority that watched the two before their draft night knew it too.

Let's keep comparing a 6'7" player to a 6'1" that has a completely different game. I have a hard critic of Trae over the years but he's ballin' this year and shooting 38% from three.

Why compare what's obvious? LOL
Here is a link so you can justify your opinion even more in front of a wall. Atlanta fans won't debate you but will roll there eyes at the Luka is better comments.

https://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/luka_doncic_vs_trae_young.htm

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

I was replying that why people may think Luka SGA not getting the same scrutiny. Luka has been better offensively and better defensively, but no way he is not getting scrutinized over defense, out of shape, or ref complaining. Getting scrutiny meaning a player carries big hope and worthy of attention.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

I do not think Ja gets a pass on his flaws, lmao.

What in the world.

As a player? Compared to Trae Young? Yeah I think there's a whole lot less criticism.

[KnicksGadfly]

I do not think Ja gets a pass on his flaws, lmao.

What in the world.

As a player? Compared to Trae Young? Yeah I think there's a whole lot less criticism.

Yah I’m pretty sure there are reasons for this one. Can you take a shot at it and guess? Don’t be shy, just pull the trigger on any answer you can think of. You might hit the target if you spray something out.

[Jamaaliver]

[wco81]

Team worst -28 in a 34-point blowout loss to the Pacers.

[RalphWiggum]

If you want an all time numbers not wins guy I completely agree.

[wco81]

Hawks may or may not make some trades before the deadline.

What is their plan long-term, especially when Trae is eligible for another extension in the summer of 2026?

Seems like the Hawks will be good enough to contend for the play in at least. But another run to the ECF seems unlikely.

Trae puts up great raw stats in the playoffs, 29.2 PPG and 10.2 assists in the playoffs last spring but he had to shoot a lot to get those numbers, which probably aren't enough to have the team advance far.

Only 25 so in theory he can continue to improve for the next few years. When he's due for that next big extension, probably starting at over $50 million a year, he will just have turned 28 in the fall of 2026.

Can the team add all-star level players in the draft, free agency or trades by then? They've made some trades in the time Trae has been on the team but it hasn't raised the ceiling.

Maybe Jalen Johnson will be a repeat all-star by then.

Otherwise, Trae seems like a very expensive #1 for a treadmill team for the next 5-10 seasons if Atlanta chooses to retain him for his entire career, into his mid 30s.

[tsherkin]

So regular season Trae is very good. This isn't news. Statistically, he isn't doing anything new. He's not even playing as well as he did from 2020 through 2022 in terms of his impact signals. But we knew he was a very good offensive player in the RS, and he has again been that.

In January, he's been back down to earth as his efficiency has plummeted and his 3pt shot has vanished again over 8 games, and he's been just weak overall at making shots. He's had 5 pretty bad games out of those 8 in terms of hitting his shot. But he's a streaky guy, so it'll even out soon enough.

I think what most people are waiting for is to see what happens in the playoffs, because that is traditionally where his problems have been. His postseason scoring has been pretty much dog-ass in all three postseason appearances, which has really put the hurt on his ability to impact team success. In 2021, it didn't matter so much, because he was still finding other ways to get it down, but his scoring was notably much worse in his subsequent appearances and that really robbed him of efficacy.

Trae is very good. What he is not is a particularly sound choice as a volume scorer once he faces teams with good size and defnsive schemes to throw at him. He doesn't have the physical tools to overcome his size disadvantage, so that means he lives and dies with his 3, and even James Harden had issues with his much, much higher FTr from a similar setup. Obviously, running Dejounte Murray next to him isn't helping that much, so it's not like he's operating in an ideal offensive environment, but dude isn't Steph, so in terms of contention, he isn't it as the #1 guy as a helio baller. If Atlanta wants him to feature in a title team, they need to find a way to allow him to shoot less and focus more on what he's quite adept at, which is playmaking.

[Pelly24]

So regular season Trae is very good. This isn't news. Statistically, he isn't doing anything new. He's not even playing as well as he did from 2020 through 2022 in terms of his impact signals. But we knew he was a very good offensive player in the RS, and he has again been that.

In January, he's been back down to earth as his efficiency has plummeted and his 3pt shot has vanished again over 8 games, and he's been just weak overall at making shots. He's had 5 pretty bad games out of those 8 in terms of hitting his shot. But he's a streaky guy, so it'll even out soon enough.

I think what most people are waiting for is to see what happens in the playoffs, because that is traditionally where his problems have been. His postseason scoring has been pretty much dog-ass in all three postseason appearances, which has really put the hurt on his ability to impact team success. In 2021, it didn't matter so much, because he was still finding other ways to get it down, but his scoring was notably much worse in his subsequent appearances and that really robbed him of efficacy.

Trae is very good. What he is not is a particularly sound choice as a volume scorer once he faces teams with good size and defnsive schemes to throw at him. He doesn't have the physical tools to overcome his size disadvantage, so that means he lives and dies with his 3, and even James Harden had issues with his much, much higher FTr from a similar setup. Obviously, running Dejounte Murray next to him isn't helping that much, so it's not like he's operating in an ideal offensive environment, but dude isn't Steph, so in terms of contention, he isn't it as the #1 guy as a helio baller. If Atlanta wants him to feature in a title team, they need to find a way to allow him to shoot less and focus more on what he's quite adept at, which is playmaking.

Think the point of your last Graf always comes down to a fundamental truth of championship pursuits: You're not going to be a Title threat without at least two All-NBA level players, or an MVP with an all-star teammate and a great complementary supporting cast. Jokic is the best player in the league and the best he could do was get to the second round (with both of his best players injured basically). Giannis needed Middleton and Jrue to win a chip, and even then, everyone they played was injured. There is no other player in Trae's place who would make this team a serious threat. This isn't a Trae thing; he just needs a better teammate, either a legit top 20 player or someone just better than him.

[ChuckChilly]

Team worst -28 in a 34-point blowout loss to the Pacers.

Yes that one blowout game summarizes Trae's season