Assists
(Honorable Mentions: Luka Doncic, Collin Sexton, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
This is not exactly a bold prediction. Young led the nation in assists during his lone season at Oklahoma. He’ll be handed the keys to the Hawks offense from the start. The roster is full of bigs who love to roll to the basket.
Taurean Prince and Kent Bazemore are on the wings shooting nearly 40 percent from downtown. Fellow rookie Kevin Huerter will try to bring his college sharpshooting to the NBA. Young will have plenty of targets to rack up assists.
Luka Doncic will be sharing the ball-handling duties with sophomore Dennis Smith Jr. Now that LeBron James is leaving Cleveland, Collin Sexton will be their primary ball handler. The backcourt logjam for the Clippers will prevent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from seeing big minutes. It would be surprising to see anyone but Young atop this list next season.