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

[macd-gm]

So you're impatient with our one and done pick on 12/21 who's starting, second best player on the team, and has 9 double-doubles already. I think this is more user error than an issue with Trae.

Outside of Steph who are the elite nba talents that weren't one and done? They got lucky with Steph and now they dominate because of one and done Kevin Durant.

[Jamaaliver]

So you're impatient with our one and done pick on 12/21 who's starting, second best player on the team, and has 9 double-doubles already. I think this is more user error than an issue with Trae.

Outside of Steph who are the elite nba talents that weren't one and done? They got lucky with Steph and now they dominate because of one and done Kevin Durant.

You guys are all over the place.

(Seriously...look back to who started this damn thread?)


TL;DR: Waiting on teen-aged one and done players to develop is exhausting. Trae will be loads better in the future. But waiting on that future is taking forever.

The thought of doing this again next year with yet another teen-aged freshman makes me nauseous.



NOTE: Stop mentioning D Fox when talking about Trae. One has nothing to do with the other.

Also, D Fox was not a day one starter in Sacramento. He started his career coming off the bench for the first few weeks.

[macd-gm]

So you're impatient with our one and done pick on 12/21 who's starting, second best player on the team, and has 9 double-doubles already. I think this is more user error than an issue with Trae.

Outside of Steph who are the elite nba talents that weren't one and done? They got lucky with Steph and now they dominate because of one and done Kevin Durant.

You guys are all over the place.

(Seriously...look back to who started this damn thread?)


TL;DR: Waiting on teen-aged one and done players to develop is exhausting. Trae will be loads better in the future. But waiting on that future is taking forever.

The thought of doing this again next year with yet another teen-aged freshman makes me nauseous.



NOTE: Stop mentioning D Fox when talking about Trae. One has nothing to do with the other.

Also, D Fox was not a day one starter in Sacramento. He started his career coming off the bench for the first few weeks.

Firstly, I never mentioned Fox

B. You're getting on to Bob for saying 20% is likely and now you are making the case that 2 months=forever?!?????

Who is it that's all over the place?

[Jamaaliver]

B. You're getting on to Bob for saying 20% is likely and now you are making the case that 2 months=forever?!?????

Who is it that's all over the place?

1. Bob's a crazy Luka fanboy.

Mavs are more likely to make the playoffs than garner a top-4 draft selection. (Where this weird "9th pick/20% chance" fairy tale scenario came from is beyond me.)


2. Jay keeps bringing up Sacramento's PG for some reason. Ignoring that he came off the bench behind veterans, plays for a veteran coach and was the 10th straight lottery pick of a forlorn franchise. His situation is very different form Trae in Atlanta.


3. It's hard watching Trae struggle, mac.

Really hard watching him get manhandled and miss open jumpers and play porous defense.

It wasn't nearly this tough watching Prince, Collins (or Huerter) early on. They were more polished after multiple years of high level college ball. They also were brought along more slowly in the pros.



If the Trae development plan is what we should expect for Zion/RJ/Cam Reddish...it's gonna be a tough 18 months.

[macd-gm]

B. You're getting on to Bob for saying 20% is likely and now you are making the case that 2 months=forever?!?????

Who is it that's all over the place?

1. Bob's a crazy Luka fanboy.

Mavs are more likely to make the playoffs than garner a top-4 draft selection. (Where this weird "9th pick/20% chance" fairy tale scenario came from is beyond me.)


2. Jay keeps bringing up Sacramento's PG for some reason. Ignoring that he came off the bench behind veterans, plays for a veteran coach and was the 10th straight lottery pick of a forlorn franchise. His situation is very different form Trae in Atlanta.


3. It's hard watching Trae struggle, mac.

Really hard watching him get manhandled and miss open jumpers and play porous defense.

It wasn't nearly this tough watching Prince, Collins (or Huerter) early on. They were more polished after multiple years of high level college ball. They also were brought along more slowly in the pros.



If the Trae development plan is what we should expect for Zion/RJ/Cam Reddish...it's gonna be a tough 18 months.

In all seriousness the spotlight is way brighter on Trae than all those guys and for good reason. He's way more talented than Prince, Heurter, probably even Collins. I'd rather watch Trae control the offense and hit guys with amazing passes than watch Prince's occasional three and 'steady' defense all day long. It's drafting the high floor, low ceiling guys that's creates fan apathy. Was there any buzz at all for Prince? I've got all the patience in the world for guys that actually have the talent to be stars develop vs. hoping that guys like Prince, Baze etc. add elite dimensions to their game at age 25+

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Trae doesn't make either Nate or Danny's top 10 lists...but he does get honorable mention due to his play making.

So, that's something.

[Jamaaliver]

Friday night was arguably Young’s most efficient game in his young career in the league. There were no forced shots. He didn’t attempt a 3-pointer for the first time this year and still ended up with 15 points on just nine attempts. He also added 10 assists and had just two turnovers.

Young looked back on his first game Friday morning and said there was one main area he needed to improve in.

“I need to control the game a little better,” Young said. “There are times where I can take this team and extend our lead or get us back in the game. I can make that easier for all of us.”

The biggest adjustment for him, he says, has been playing against different types of point guards every game.

Young acknowledges that his shooting performance two months into the season isn’t where he wants it to be. He’s shooting 25 percent from 3 and 78 percent from the free-throw line, and neither statistic has been that low in his basketball career. He remains steadfast with his confidence that both marks will improve, and he thinks he should see an increase in his shooting numbers as he gets more confident and the overall talent of the roster improves in the future.

But where the biggest cause of concern should be is on defense.

The Athletic

[jayu70]

Seems like Trae's shooting from the field is now affecting his shooting from the freethrow line - 78%.
My patience is really wearing thin with his shot selection.
I expected him to struggle on defense.

[Spud2nique]

Seems like Trae's shooting from the field is now affecting his shooting from the freethrow line - 78%.
My patience is really wearing thin with his shot selection.
I expected him to struggle on defense.

I thought we wanted to change the dimensions of the game and bring in the 4 pointer? Lol... I agree..Trae needs to start playing a tad more efficient.

[Jamaaliver]

Trae playing well and measured of late. Over his last 5 games, he's shooting 42% from the field and 46% on 3-pointers.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[dms269]

I do think that Trae's passing is extremely underestimated and is often overlooked due to his shooting.

[raleigh]

Seems like Trae's shooting from the field is now affecting his shooting from the freethrow line - 78%.
My patience is really wearing thin with his shot selection.
I expected him to struggle on defense.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/shooting.fcgi?player_id=youngtr01&year_id=2019&shot_pts=3

I think fatigue is a real issue for Young. He's shooting less than 15% of 4th quarter threes. He's not been great in the other 3 quarters (~30%), but he's considerably worse in the 4th. 3rd quarter Trae is an NBA starter.

The best thing he can do for himself before next season is to get stronger and fitter.

[Jamaaliver]

I do think that Trae's passing is extremely underestimated and is often overlooked due to his shooting.

Read on Twitter

[macd-gm]

All PGs have great passes that go unconverted but I think there are a higher than normal number of those on this hawks team. Trae's per36 assists is at 9 and on a better shooting team I think he'd easily be at 10.

[northcyde]

I'm patient with Trae's development. But . . . he MUST start to shoot better. To me, that may mean taking more midrange shots off the pick and roll instead of 3s. Schroder did this in his 1st year of being the starter, and he became a very competent midrange shooter ( even if he was still schizophrenic as a 3 point shooter ).

What I don't want to see, is for the kid to keep jacking up 3s when he's not making them. I'm almost to the point of putting a Josh Smith 3 point shot limitation on him. You get to take 2 threes a game. But if you don't make at least one of your first 2 threes, you don't get to shoot from deep the rest of the game. If that means that you have to get a few extra assists, so be it.

[marco102]

I see a lot of posters discussing his shot selection. His shot selection has improved tremendously the last two weeks. He's actually shooting a lot better because he's not jacking up 3's at a crazy rate. Like Jamall say's he's shooting 46% on his threes over the past few games, albeit on about 3 attempts per game.

[Jamaaliver]

Ten things I like and don't like

Trae Young's weird season

It's still too early to worry about Young's horrific 3-point shooting. He's about as bad as expected on defense. He runs smack into picks, and occasionally gets lost off the ball.

He'll get better.

But something about his offense feels strange. He's not taking 3s in the volume or style we expected. Only 3.1 Young pick-and-rolls per 100 Atlanta possessions have led to an off-the-dribble 3-pointer -- 19th among high-volume ball-handlers, right behind Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke and Mike Conley, per Second Spectrum data.

About 6 percent of Young's 3s have come via the pick-and-roll, the 20th-lowest rate among 75 ball-handlers who have attempted at least 20 such triples, per Second Spectrum. He has attempted three or fewer triples in four of Atlanta's past five games. Young has danced his way to only two step-back 3s all season!

Some of this is by design. Watch where Atlanta's big men screen for Young; most of them straddle the 3-point arc, so that even if Young dribbles into daylight, he's already in 2-point range. Perhaps the Hawks are trying to build Young's game inside-out -- and preserve his confidence. He shares more that way, and his drive-and-dish work has been a bright spot.

But this isn't the version of Young that Atlanta chose instead of Doncic. I hope we see some of that guy soon.

ESPN

[jayu70]

Ten things I like and don't like

Trae Young's weird season

But this isn't the version of Young that Atlanta chose instead of Doncic. I hope we see some of that guy soon.

ESPN

Mmmmmmm......based on TS's pre-draft assessment of Trae (radio interview) IIRC, he was more enamored with Trae's ability to run the PnR from either wing and make a play with either hand to set up his teammates, not the Curry-esque 3 point shooting.
Granted that's what most fans remember most about him from college so that appears to be the focus in every opinion piece.

[macd-gm]

Ten things I like and don't like

Trae Young's weird season

But this isn't the version of Young that Atlanta chose instead of Doncic. I hope we see some of that guy soon.

ESPN

Mmmmmmm......based on TS's pre-draft assessment of Trae (radio interview) IIRC, he was more enamored with Trae's ability to run the PnR from either wing and make a play with either hand to set up his teammates, not the Curry-esque 3 point shooting.
Granted that's what most fans remember most about him from college so that appears to be the focus in every opinion piece.

Agree. If we chose Trae because he can hit long 3s then that was a really stupid decision. It is about playmaking.

[Jamaaliver]

^Yeah, we're looking more for Steve Nash than Steph Curry.

But Nash was a career 42% 3-pt shooter.

Trae can't maximize his offensive potential without at least average efficiency from deep.

Otherwise, he's just Rajon Rondo with bad defense.