Zach Lowe on Trae

[AHF]

6. Drivin' Trae Young

Young's bricky start should feel more distressing. He's shooting 25.6 percent on six 3-point attempts per game. Antoine Walker is a little ashamed. He is a nonentity on defense -- a piece of tissue paper floating around the action.

Young's passing is as advertised, but the drives setting up those passes represent the best reason to hold onto your Young optimism. Defenders press him almost to half court, and Young baits them into reaches -- and blows by them.

http://media.video-cdn.espn.com/gifs/mp4/11_12_Pelicans_v_Raptors_Moore_3_2gif.mp4

That is especially useful against switches, and Young figures to see more of those when his 3-pointer kicks in:

http://media.video-cdn.espn.com/gifs/mp4/11_12_Pelicans_v_Raptors_Moore_pass_2gif.mp4

Young has recorded almost 23 drives per 100 possessions, ninth-most among rotation players, per Second Spectrum. Almost 40 percent of Young's shots have come within four feet of the rim, a hefty mark. He's finishing at about an average rate for point guards, and average is great on the rookie point guard curve. He coaxes in layups from awkward angles, way below the rim.

He's patient with a live dribble, always scanning for passes. The Hawks have scored about 1.15 points per possession when Young drives -- slightly above average, per Second Spectrum. Again: For a rookie amid this tanky, stanky roster, average is a huge win.

Even in nabbing a top-five-protected pick from Dallas, the Hawks gambled picking Young over Luka Doncic. It was a bet both on Young and against Doncic -- that Doncic wouldn't be so much more valuable than Young during their primes as to be worth more than the combination of Young and that pick.

We'll see. Atlanta obviously needs Young to develop into a mega-3-point shooter. But some college shooters build their NBA games from inside out. Maybe Young is one of them.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25290354/zach-lowe-10-things-like-including-trae-young-nba

[macdaddy]

That was better than i expected when i saw Zach Lowe.   Trae is a streaky shooter and he's taking bad shots.   I honestly don't think his D is all that bad for a small rookie PG.   Maybe I was just expecting worse.  

Trae has done everything he could possibly do to come into this season ready and ball out from the start.   He was physically ready and has the support of his teammates.   We've hit the point where the coaching staff needs to show they know how to help get him to the next levels.   

[Sothron]

Young needs to stop the 40 foot shots. He is getting so much attention that it is hard to judge him fairly because he has pressure to try and be the man all the time. Getting him another guy in the draft coming up should help.

[Lurker]

The numbers on his pull up 3 are as ugly as they look (it was 11ish percent and it might be lower now), and the thing has been some of them haven't been very stupid shots. It's been both ways. Taking some stupid shots and then also at times pulling up from 25/26, and setting a little before pulling has been an ugly shot that isn't even close. The thing is, the set shot 3 has been much better though.

But as I've said numerous times, I think most year 1 PGs are going to have major struggles at times, while showing what they can do at other times. Unfair to judge this year, if next year we get somebody like Reddish or Langford to play alongside him that can also playmake, combining it with the PGs that are going to be good usually take a step forward in year two, that will be the year to make a judgment. 

[HawkItus]

watching Trae play I think it's conditioning.   I bet $100 after a Summer of NBA conditioning and drills he is top level pull up shooter.  All those presses are wearing him down right now.

[benhillboy]

Agreeable synopsis.  Trae’s like the anti-3&D player lol.  Now a negative WS/48 player along with the Great Taurean Non-Baller Prince.  Doncic has been decent but nothing special with that 1:1 assist to turn.  His size as a great asset compared to Trae’s as a great detriment got this draft day swap looking discouraging to date.

[capstone21]

2 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Agreeable synopsis.  Trae’s like the anti-3&D player lol.  Now a negative WS/48 player along with the Great Taurean Non-Baller Prince.  Doncic has been decent but nothing special with that 1:1 assist to turn.  His size as a great asset compared to Trae’s as a great detriment got this draft day swap looking discouraging to date.

Doncic has been really good with the exception of turnovers.

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

Young needs to stop the 40 foot shots. He is getting so much attention that it is hard to judge him fairly because he has pressure to try and be the man all the time. Getting him another guy in the draft coming up should help.

He is actually shooting well from that range and catch and shoot. Most of his struggles are coming from shooting over size in the NBA.

[capstone21]

3 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

He is actually shooting well from that range and catch and shoot. Most of his struggles are coming from shooting over size in the NBA.

Has he been?  What I have noticed is that he chucks up some pretty bad shots behind the arc.  The shoot on the run IS NOT working at all.  When he sets his feet he is a lot more consistent but he doesn't take the time to do that enough.  As for the size issue ... well that is not going to go away so he has to learn to adjust to that.

[Spud2nique]

7 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

well that is not going to go away so he has to learn to adjust to that.

I fear this for @kg01 as well...the size thing isn’t going away.... ? 

[Peoriabird]

39 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

 Most of his struggles are coming from shooting over size in the NBA.

He has no problems shooting over size in the paint.

[bleachkit]

He needs to watch Steve Nash tape. Nash was the master of picking his spots on when to shoot. 

[KB21]

NEWSFLASH!!

It takes time for these young players who are coming into the NBA today to develop their games and become players that can contribute to winning games.  That's the case with ALL young players.  There wasn't a single player drafted in the top 5 that was actually ready for the NBA outside of Luka Doncic.  

With Trae, it is going to take 3-4 years before he is contributing to winning basketball.  Guess what?  Whoever Atlanta takes with their top 4 pick in 2019 is going to take 3-4 years before he is contributing to winning basketball.  

[Alex]

3 hours ago, Sothron said:

Young needs to stop the 40 foot shots. He is getting so much attention that it is hard to judge him fairly because he has pressure to try and be the man all the time. Getting him another guy in the draft coming up should help.

He has pressure on him that result in him taking terrible shots?  That’s a pretty big excuse for him shooting poorly from deep.

[kg01]

2 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

I fear this for @kg01 as well...the size thing isn’t going away.... ? 

[offensive comment about spud2's gf and her mom redacted}

 

38 minutes ago, KB21 said:

NEWSFLASH!!

It takes time for these young players who are coming into the NBA today to develop their games and become players that can contribute to winning games.  That's the case with ALL young players.  There wasn't a single player drafted in the top 5 that was actually ready for the NBA outside of Luka Doncic.  

With Trae, it is going to take 3-4 years before he is contributing to winning basketball.  Guess what?  Whoever Atlanta takes with their top 4 pick in 2019 is going to take 3-4 years before he is contributing to winning basketball.  

Donovan Mitchell, Jason Tatum, Simmons, and a host of others all say 'hi!'

[benhillboy]

Even without Johnny I’m pretty sure Trae is high in PNR alley oop ranking.

[Spud2nique]

27 minutes ago, kg01 said:

[offensive comment about spud2's gf and her mom redacted}

 

Donovan Mitchell, Jason Tatum, Simmons, and a host of others all say 'hi!'

I don’t follow... could you be more specific? 3, 2 1 here come the mod squad! ? 

[terrell]

I blame the short college 3 point line for the bricks...They need to move it back a tad. At least as far as Euroleague...

[Royjr9]

An honest assessment of Trae. I think he looks better once that secondary ball handler shot creator is found for us. Defense he has shown some signs though of being competent. Like getting a couple turnovers when teams try to post him up. 

[terrell]

3 hours ago, KB21 said:

NEWSFLASH!!

It takes time for these young players who are coming into the NBA today to develop their games and become players that can contribute to winning games.  That's the case with ALL young players.  There wasn't a single player drafted in the top 5 that was actually ready for the NBA outside of Luka Doncic.  

With Trae, it is going to take 3-4 years before he is contributing to winning basketball.  Guess what?  Whoever Atlanta takes with their top 4 pick in 2019 is going to take 3-4 years before he is contributing to winning basketball.  

Not if we can add a couple of nice FA's...