Exploring why rookie point guard Trae Young is setup to have a breakout season for the Atlanta Hawks heading into the 2018-19 NBA season
Now that the Atlanta Hawks have traded Dennis Schroder, the stage is set for one of two things to happen this season.
One, Trae Young could step into the starting role and have a true breakout season as a rookie point guard for the Hawks, or he could struggle during his first season and fall in and out of the starting unit.
But, based off what we’ve seen from Young during his freshman – and only – season at Oklahoma and after his NBA Summer League showing, the rookie point guard is setup to have a breakout year for the Hawks in 2018-19.
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Young is a great shooter, possibly the best one in this draft class, and is a better playmaker than he gets credit for. He’s an explosive scorer and much more athletic than he looks. During four games played in Summer League, Young averaged 17 points and seven assists in roughly 25 minutes per game.
Even though he struggled with his shot throughout the tournament, he proved that he’s much more than a flashy shooter. He proved that he can still score when his shot is not entirely on, and in the NBA that’s almost equally as essential.
He is the exact type of star player that this franchise needed. He can score with the ball in his hands, and be effective without it.
Young has big shoes to fill, as he was drawing comparisons to the likes of Stephen Curry pre-draft, but will have the role to attempt to fill them.
It’s not fair to expect Young to be the next Curry. Nope. That’s extremely unfair to not only him as a player, but to even the Hawks.
Atlanta won’t win many games this season. They’re in the midst of a long rebuild, and have a ton of losing ahead of them. But Trae Young could be a big bright spot for this team moving forward, and all the pieces are in place for him to have a breakout season in 2018-19.