Luka Doncic vs. Trae Young: A rookie race to remember

Stats Comparison

For the first couple months of this season, it seemed this trade was no different to the ones I listed above. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Mavs came out on top and that the Hawks had made a huge mistake. Here’s a look at both Trae and Luka’s stats for October and November:

• Trae: 15.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 7.6 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.3 bpg, .378/.248/.816
• Luka: 18.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.4 bpg, .443/.382/.790

While these box score numbers are both pretty awesome for rookies, it’s efficiency that was Trae’s weak point early in the season. Coming into the league, Trae was mainly known for two things; his passing and his “Steph-esque” shooting ability. And while he showed he could create for others right from day one, he did seem overwhelmed at times and struggled to adjust to the NBA game, leading to a putrid 24.8 percent shooting display from downtown through his first 23 games.

However, like with almost anything that happens in the NBA these days (and sports in general), the media jumped to conclusions far too quickly, with some labelling Trae a bust and calling the trade one-sided. And given everything that has happened since November, it’s clear that 23 games are far from enough to judge what kind of career a player is going to have because as the season has progressed, Young has closed the gap on Luka in the Rookie of the Year race and has made all of his haters eat their own words. Here’s a look at their stats since the all-star break:

• Luka: 22.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 7.0 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.6 bpg, .409/.259/.672
• Trae: 25.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 8.9 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.1 bpg, .450/.388/.873

Again, both guys are putting up insane box score numbers but now it’s Doncic that is experiencing shooting struggles. But even though his shot isn’t falling like it was earlier in the season, he is still trending in the right direction in terms of his all-around game (and I’m sure he’ll manage to find his shot again at some point).

Young has just exploded since the all-star break and seems to have really figured out the NBA game. He continues to put on show after show, seemingly improving every game. Not only that, but he has now managed to make the Rookie of the Year race somewhat interesting.

Now that we’ve looked at the stats these guys put up, let’s dive deep and analyse their games…

*stats according to Basketball Reference