Trae Young - The Man, The Viper, and The Prosecution aka The MVP aka Ice Trae

[Spud2nique]

7 hours ago, hawkman said:

Kawhi literally milked that all the way to an NBA Championship.

Ya you’d think players would be putting the mid in their repertoire since Rip Ham won it in 2004. Then like you said 15 years later Kawhi.

[Spud2nique]

On 8/17/2021 at 8:57 AM, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

One more week! tree Trae sig shoes !  

[hawkman]

5 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

Ya you’d think players would be putting the mid in their repertoire since Rip Ham won it in 2004. Then like you said 15 years later Kawhi.

Agreed. MJ won scoring titles with mostly midrange shots. 

[JayBirdHawk]

Ranking the Top 22 point guards for the 2021-22 season

#4. Trae Young (Atlanta)

2020-21 stats: 25.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 9.4 apg, 2.2 3PTM, 88.6 FT%

Had we been making these rankings at this time last offseason, there’s little chance Trae Young would have finished as high as he did, sitting fourth in our current Top Point Guards list.

But a spectacular 2020-21 campaign has completely shifted public opinion on the former Oklahoma standout, as although his point-per-game average decreased by more than four full points, he improved so much as a decision-maker and table-setter that Young is a much more complete floor general than ever before.

Young undoubtedly proved how scarily effective he can be in the playoffs, too, leading the Hawks all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in a campaign many thought they’d consider just qualifying for the postseason a success.

Young’s unstoppable floater game, his bombastic three-point prowess and ability to set up shooters and rim-runners was on full display in the 2020-21 playoffs, giving us a strong indication that Young is here to stay for the far foreseeable future as one of the league’s elite at the point-guard spot.

 

3. Kyrie Irving 2. Damian Lillard 1. Steph Curry

NBA Rankings: Top 22 point guards for the 2021-22 season (hoopshype.com)

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[Spud2nique]

50 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

3. Kyrie Irving 2. Damian Lillard 1. Steph Curry

Trae is #1. There I said it. If you combine age, skills, etc. Trae is the one. 

[EazyRoc]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Ranking the Top 22 point guards for the 2021-22 season

#4. Trae Young (Atlanta)

2020-21 stats: 25.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 9.4 apg, 2.2 3PTM, 88.6 FT%

Had we been making these rankings at this time last offseason, there’s little chance Trae Young would have finished as high as he did, sitting fourth in our current Top Point Guards list.

But a spectacular 2020-21 campaign has completely shifted public opinion on the former Oklahoma standout, as although his point-per-game average decreased by more than four full points, he improved so much as a decision-maker and table-setter that Young is a much more complete floor general than ever before.

Young undoubtedly proved how scarily effective he can be in the playoffs, too, leading the Hawks all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in a campaign many thought they’d consider just qualifying for the postseason a success.

Young’s unstoppable floater game, his bombastic three-point prowess and ability to set up shooters and rim-runners was on full display in the 2020-21 playoffs, giving us a strong indication that Young is here to stay for the far foreseeable future as one of the league’s elite at the point-guard spot.

 

3. Kyrie Irving 2. Damian Lillard 1. Steph Curry

NBA Rankings: Top 22 point guards for the 2021-22 season (hoopshype.com)

Kyrie ?!?

[macdaddy]

13 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Trae is #1. There I said it. If you combine age, skills, etc. Trae is the one. 

I agree.  Those three may all be better scorers but combine scoring and playmaking I just don't see them holding a candle to Trae but i think we'll see this season.   All three are career 6 assist guys. 

[AHF]

31 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I agree.  Those three may all be better scorers but combine scoring and playmaking I just don't see them holding a candle to Trae but i think we'll see this season.   All three are career 6 assist guys. 

Curry is still great and a 2x MVP so by seniority rules I'm fine with him being #1.  

Lillard is a weaker case because he has been around with some good teams for quite a while and never done what Trae did.  He has also never produced in the post-season like Trae did last year.  So I'm not ok with Lillard above Trae but I'm at least not offended.

Kyrie hasn't done **** as the #1 guy and should not be in the conversation for top 3.  You should hide your head in shame if you rank Kyrie over Trae.  

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, AHF said:

Curry is still great and a 2x MVP so by seniority rules I'm fine with him being #1.  

I don’t even know you. 

[AHF]

1 minute ago, Spud2nique said:

I don’t even know you. 

I wouldn't even consider trading Trae for Steph.  Not even close.  But 32 and 6 last season on amazing efficiency confirms that he is still an absolute elite player and imo he was the only plus guy for GS last year.  Klay was out.  Wiggins is a garbage panda who just shoots a lot to get himself ppg stats.  Green is over the hill and hasn't been great for years now.  Wiseman has promise but like most rookies wasn't an impact player last year.  And what else did they have?  Baze?  Oubre?  That team wasn't very good.  Winning 54% of their games was all Steph, imo.

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, AHF said:

I wouldn't even consider trading Trae for Steph.  Not even close.  But 32 and 6 last season on amazing efficiency confirms that he is still an absolute elite player and imo he was the only plus guy for GS last year.  Klay was out.  Wiggins is a garbage panda who just shoots a lot to get himself ppg stats.  Green is over the hill and hasn't been great for years now.  Wiseman has promise but like most rookies wasn't an impact player last year.  And what else did they have?  Baze?  Oubre?  That team wasn't very good.  Winning 54% of their games was all Steph, imo.

True, but he didn’t get them to the playoffs.  But ya I know this is individual position debate not team talk.

[AHF]

Just now, Spud2nique said:

True, but he didn’t get them to the playoffs.  But ya I know this is individual position debate not team talk.

I think if you put Trae on GS and Steph on Atlanta last year that they do roughly the same.  GS misses the playoffs and Atlanta makes it.  Trae does more to elevate his teammates but his teammates are also much, much better than the 2020-21 Warriors.

[RandomFan]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Trae is #1. There I said it. If you combine age, skills, etc. Trae is the one. 

Agree with you and several others in this thread echoing similar sentiments. As AHF said, I can easily justify keeping Steph ahead of Trae because he IS the greatest shooter of all time, even though his ball distribution can't hold a candle to Trae. But that being said, we could also make the argument that he's more of a 2-guard than a true point guard, with much of the offense running through Draymond. 

It's a joke to have Kyrie and Dame ahead of Trae, neither of whose passing ability is even in the conversation with Trae. 

Trae should be #1, or at worst #2. 

[EazyRoc]

I mean I get the argument with Lillard. BUT Kyrie ?!?! That’s just disrespectful 

[macdaddy]

To me it comes down to whether the question is ranking the players the play the PG position or ranking the best PGs.   Steph, Dame, even Kyrie maybe better players but i don't think they are better PGs.   If they were 6'5" they might all be SGs.  

Not sure who'd i'd say is the best passer playmaker of those 3 but i'm thinking Steph.

[AHF]

3 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

To me it comes down to whether the question is ranking the players the play the PG position or ranking the best PGs.   Steph, Dame, even Kyrie maybe better players but i don't think they are better PGs.   If they were 6'5" they might all be SGs.  

Not sure who'd i'd say is the best passer playmaker of those 3 but i'm thinking Steph.

How in the world do you make a case for Kyrie being a better player than Trae?  Kyrie has put up great efficiency numbers in a supporting role when defenses keyed on LeBron and KD, etc. but didn't do jack when he had his own team.  In fact, those Boston teams were a lot like our Hawks with nice depth and talent.  He had Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brown, Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier, etc. and here is how Kyrie "stepped up" to lead his team:

That Milwaukee team wasn't nearly as good as the one Trae faced but Kyrie put up 20 and 6 on putrid shooting because he isn't good enough to be a legit #1.  He is a very nice complimentary player but not nearly the overall player that Trae is. 

Not even close.

[kg01]

14 minutes ago, EazyRoc said:

I mean I get the argument with Lillard. BUT Kyrie ?!?! That’s just disrespectful 

Sorry, I'm no longer ranking Kemba ahead of Trae.

Yeah, you read that right.

[macdaddy]

9 minutes ago, AHF said:

How in the world do you make a case for Kyrie being a better player than Trae?  Kyrie has put up great efficiency numbers in a supporting role when defenses keyed on LeBron and KD, etc. but didn't do jack when he had his own team.  In fact, those Boston teams were a lot like our Hawks with nice depth and talent.  He had Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brown, Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier, etc. and here is how Kyrie "stepped up" to lead his team:

That Milwaukee team wasn't nearly as good as the one Trae faced but Kyrie put up 20 and 6 on putrid shooting because he isn't good enough to be a legit #1.  He is a very nice complimentary player but not nearly the overall player that Trae is. 

Not even close.

I much prefer Trae don't get me wrong.   You're probably right but a Boston team determined to put all blame on Kyrie because they are overrated and mentally weak isn't the greatest example.   Plus that Bucks team was actually really good.   

Yeah he's not a #1 option but that doesn't mean he's not a good player.   Maybe Dame has never won a ring because he's not really a good #1 either.   

[Gray Mule]

Such is the life of a Hawk fan.  Not too many seasons ago we were happy if we didn't end up in last place in the east.  Now, we become upset when we hear that anyone has a better PG than Atlanta.

We worried that we might not beat that 13 win season totals.  Now we sincerely believe that we are good enough to be in the fight for the title.  

Remember that old cigarette commercial:  "You've come a long way, baby!"  Well, we qualify for that title as an NBA team.  Our future looks grand.  We're not the 'King of the mountain" but we're close enough that every NBA team will have their sights set on beating this season's Hawks.

Already set.  Someone just yell "GO!"