NBA Power Rankings: Tiering all 30 projected starting point guards for 2023-24

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
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Trae Young
Atlanta Hawks Trae Young (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

6. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young’s stock may be at an all-time low, but he’s still one of the best point guards in the NBA. He may not get enough credit for it but he’s a dynamic offensive player on multiple fronts He can score 40 any given night and is one of the more underrated playmakers in the Association as well. Young rarely gets credit for being a good playmaker but is coming off a season in which he averaged 10 assists per game. It should be noted that over the first five years of his career, he’s never averaged less than eight assists per game.

A “down” season for Young consisted of him averaging 26 points and 10 assists on 43 percent shooting from the field. If that’s a down year, you can only imagine what Young’s ceiling is in the NBA. At 24 years old, Young could very much be just scratching the surface of the player that he can be. And he’s probably already among the elite point guards in the league.

If Young can rejuvenate his career, there’s nothing stopping him from taking another step forward among his peers on this list. My only concern with Young falls with his environment in Atlanta.