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

[Jamaaliver]

NBA Daily: Evaluating The 2018 Rookie Class

As the NBA season rapidly approaches its halfway point, Drew Maresca examines the rookies and where they stand among their peers


Trae Young 15.4 points, 7.2 assists and 3.9 turnovers per game

Projection: Second Team All-Rookie

Trae Young opted to avoid engaging in a discussion about the 2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year, saying he’d prefer not to speculate. Unfortunately for Young, it probably won’t be him. While he looked surprisingly effective early on, Young has since come back to earth. He seems to be a bit flummoxed by either the deeper NBA three-point line or the speed of the defense; he attempted 6.7 three-pointers per game in October, 5.4 in November and only 3.6 throughout December – all the while, shooting only 24.6 percent on threes for the season.

But Hawks legend and vice president of basketball, Dominique Wilkins, reminds us that future seasons should look better than the current one.

“I think Trae Young is going to be a heck of a player,“ Wilkins said. “He’s only one year removed from high school. People need to give him time to develop and learn.”

And Young was always going to need time to acclimate to the NBA. He is only six feet tall and 180 pounds. It would have been highly unusual for him to hit the ground running as an under-sized point guard – probably the hardest position to transition to in the NBA. If Young can regain his confidence and get back to his prolific shooting, he is a sure-fire star. If he doesn’t, he will struggle as an undersized point guard who isn’t overly engaged on defense.

But Wilkins was quick to point out that the Hawks should have no regrets about swapping Doncic for Young and the Mavs’ 2019 first-round pick.

“No, man,” Wilkins said. “You can’t go back and look at what should have been or possibly could have happened because we got who we wanted.”

Basketball Insiders

[macd-gm]

^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.

No doubt. He has to start shooting better. I think his percentages are a little distorted though. So his shot selection was certainly horrific, but you take out the shots that no respectable nba player would have even attempted then his percentages look decent vs. horrible. That makes me a little less concerned that there is a major issue with his shooting.

That said, I doubt he'll ever be extremely consistent. He's streaky and I think the mechanics are a little wonky. I'm just expecting him to get on hot streaks that will keep his overall % up.

[jayu70]

^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.

I totally agree on that front. He has to get his 3 pt shot in order with at least average efficiency.
When is Pierce gonna run a play to get him some wide open catch and shoot looks, how about some corner 3s?

On another note: I did some digging - Nash took approx. 55 3s as a rookie, Trae took that many in his first 10 games. The 3 point shot has exploded since those Nash days. Good Lawt!!!

[Spud2nique]

^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.

No doubt. He has to start shooting better. I think his percentages are a little distorted though. So his shot selection was certainly horrific, but you take out the shots that no respectable nba player would have even attempted then his percentages look decent vs. horrible. That makes me a little less concerned that there is a major issue with his shooting.

That said, I doubt he'll ever be extremely consistent. He's streaky and I think the mechanics are a little wonky. I'm just expecting him to get on hot streaks that will keep his overall % up.

I’m disappointed in you. You are l his fanboy you have to understand that his shooting style is one that is highly successful because he shoots it mainly from his chest. I wouldn’t change his shot style whatsoever but I would have him take a thousand shots a day this summer. Reps reps reps. I’m not worried. He isn’t Rondo. When I first saw Rondo shoot I felt uncomfortable.

[Spud2nique]

^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.

I totally agree on that front. He has to get his 3 pt shot in order with at least average efficiency.
When is Pierce gonna run a play to get him some wide open catch and shoot looks, how about some corner 3s?

On another note: I did some digging - Nash took approx. 55 3s as a rookie, Trae took that many in his first 10 games. The 3 point shot has exploded since those Nash days. Good Lawt!!!

That’s crazy Bird! The NBA was more authentic when the three pointer was used as a weapon more than just a regular occurrence.

[Jamaaliver]

When is Pierce gonna run a play to get him some wide open catch and shoot looks, how about some corner 3s?

His catch and shoot numbers aren't exactly glowing, either.

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[Radioblacktive1]

I haven’t read through all the pages but I had to come back here for a breath of fresh air from people on Twitter constantly rubbing Luka’s success in my face.

I’m still not worried about him and I’m already looking forward to next year, especially after hopefully drafting a nice plug-in wing (since Zion is probably off the table because I don’t see us getting the first pick). Trae’s dimes are a thing of beauty and he’s learned to pick his shots better. The only things he needs bad offensively is to get consistent with his jumper but more importantly, he needs to get creative at the rim. It seems like recently most of his misses come from blocks and just inability to finish over or around defenders. I could live with the missed jumpshots if he was more solid at the rim. I want him to pack on muscle next summer. I think that would help a lot of things for him.

[tbhawksfan1]

NBA Daily: Evaluating The 2018 Rookie Class

As the NBA season rapidly approaches its halfway point, Drew Maresca examines the rookies and where they stand among their peers


Trae Young 15.4 points, 7.2 assists and 3.9 turnovers per game

Projection: Second Team All-Rookie

Trae Young opted to avoid engaging in a discussion about the 2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year, saying he’d prefer not to speculate. Unfortunately for Young, it probably won’t be him. While he looked surprisingly effective early on, Young has since come back to earth. He seems to be a bit flummoxed by either the deeper NBA three-point line or the speed of the defense; he attempted 6.7 three-pointers per game in October, 5.4 in November and only 3.6 throughout December – all the while, shooting only 24.6 percent on threes for the season.

But Hawks legend and vice president of basketball, Dominique Wilkins, reminds us that future seasons should look better than the current one.

“I think Trae Young is going to be a heck of a player,“ Wilkins said. “He’s only one year removed from high school. People need to give him time to develop and learn.”

And Young was always going to need time to acclimate to the NBA. He is only six feet tall and 180 pounds. It would have been highly unusual for him to hit the ground running as an under-sized point guard – probably the hardest position to transition to in the NBA. If Young can regain his confidence and get back to his prolific shooting, he is a sure-fire star. If he doesn’t, he will struggle as an undersized point guard who isn’t overly engaged on defense.

But Wilkins was quick to point out that the Hawks should have no regrets about swapping Doncic for Young and the Mavs’ 2019 first-round pick.

“No, man,” Wilkins said. “You can’t go back and look at what should have been or possibly could have happened because we got who we wanted.”

Basketball Insiders

Who is "we". I think TS got who he wanted, not sure about anyone else and of course Nique is towing the company line
The other top picks also one year removed from High School
Trae is struggling but will get better
Nothing to see here

[tbhawksfan1]

If Trae doesn't vastly improve his 3 shooting, a lot of Hawks fans will be very disappointed with his ceiling

I think he will, just a question of how much. If he can be the good 3pt shooter that we were expecting, the sky is the limit. If not, TS totally missed the draft

[personanongrata]

Zach Lowe, who is one of the best basketball writters, wrote a little thing on Trae Young. He seems bearish on Trae.

[Jamaaliver]

Zach Lowe, who is one of the best basketball writters, wrote a little thing on Trae Young. He seems bearish on Trae.

2ND POSTING:

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

[tbhawksfan1]

Zach Lowe, who is one of the best basketball writters, wrote a little thing on Trae Young. He seems bearish on Trae.

Bearish, don't see it. He's basically saying that he's been diappointing and strange and that he "hopes" that he can be the player we thought he would be.

Start hitting 35% of his threes and everything changes. What's happened to date is more troubling than reassuring

[tbhawksfan1]

I'm hopeful that TS will shake things up before the deadline to bring in more draft assets and to go all in with the youth. I also think that Baze is a bad fit with Trae, Prince not much better. Hawks played well with Heurt starting, well, better.

We have Heurt and Dorsey as shooters and Bembry as a glue/slasher with a developping 3. Let the kids play and tank correctly

[Jamaaliver]

Bearish, don't see it. He's basically saying that he's been disappointing and strange and that he "hopes" that he can be the player we thought he would be.

Start hitting 35% of his threes and everything changes. What's happened to date is more troubling than reassuring

There's been progress. Trae has been more measured of late and his shooting numbers are inching up. His shot selection has improved and he's shooting half as many threes now as when he started the season.

In his last 10 games, he's shooting 39% from the field and 28% from 3-pt range.

In his last 5 games, he's shooting 42% from the field and 46% from 3-pt range.


Progress, growth, maturation and steady improvement over a dreadful November.

Plus the team has been more competitive, the offense more efficient as a result.

[DarthTater]

Zach Lowe, who is one of the best basketball writters, wrote a little thing on Trae Young. He seems bearish on Trae.

Bearish, don't see it. He's basically saying that he's been diappointing and strange and that he "hopes" that he can be the player we thought he would be.

Start hitting 35% of his threes and everything changes. What's happened to date is more troubling than reassuring

That's what bearish is. If they were optimistic, they would be "bullish."

[King Ken]

20 pts and 6-7 assts with bad efficiency and a lot of losing would be great this year. With a little time and efficiency he can turn that into a Traesque 24 / 9

So far his 19/9/3.5 per36 is elite for a rookie true PG.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Hazer]

Ice Très with the 4th most double-doubles of ANY PG.

[dms269]

I am still impressed with Trae's passing. It is elite already.

He had a behind the back pass to Dedmon at the top who just watch the ball go thru his hands. Just think...when he has legit players who can finish around him.

[jayu70]

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[Spud2nique]

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