Thaddeus Young
Phoenix Suns

Player Facts

Height: 6'8"
Weight: 235lbs.

Wingspan: 6'11.5"

Date of Birth: June 21, 1988
College Experience: Georgia Tech (1 year)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 6
Physical Strength: 7
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 9
Paint Scoring: 7
Midrange Scoring: 4
Three-Point Scoring: 5
Dribbling: 6
Passing: 6
Perimeter Defense: 7
Interior Defense: 6
Rebounding: 7

Embed from Getty Images

JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Solid Vet

> Craft Around the Basket

> Offensive Rebounding

> Four-Man Facilitating

> Forcing Turnovers

> Multi-Position Defense

> Guarding In Space

> Weak Shooting

> Struggles on Fives

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

The veteran forward has always been a bit of a tweener but has continued to make winning plays wherever he's been. Thaddeus has settled in as a power forward offensively but can guard a handful of positions on the other side. Mobility, smart positioning, and quick hands have always been the pillars of Young's defense rather than pure physicality.

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Solid Vet

Thad's offensive game is one that fills in the gaps for his team as opposed to ever spearheading one. He's a willing and able screen setter both on and away from the ball. Young is a high percentage finisher inside of the paint as well.

In part because of his vigilance and grasp of his role, Thad has always had strong 2pt percentages. He's only fallen below 50% from two in a couple of seasons throughout his lengthy career. Young's quite comfortable putting the ball on the floor and attacking from the perimeter.

Craft Around the Basket

As a lefty especially, Young has lots of craft around the basket with his little fakes. He tries to finish with that dominant left whenever possible. Thad has transitioned into more of a below-the-rim guy, with his skill/touch around the iron developing over the course of years.

In 2020-2021 he shot a crisp 67% at the basket. Moving a few steps back, Young has always been a high-volume flip-shot forward. The following season (2021-2022) had him at a strong 51.4% on non-restricted area paint shots.

Most of Thad's buckets come from either rolls to the hole or as a cutter/waiter in the dunker spot. He also can post up in a pinch as well as give you some garbage buckets off an offensive rebound. The Georgia Tech product is well-rounded and generally solid on offense outside of his jump-shooting woes.

Offensive Rebounding

The 6'8" forward is a scrappy offensive rebounder at his size. His O-REB rates tend to mimic that of a larger player. His 2.8 offensive boards per-36 figure was identical to Serge Ibaka and higher than both Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo (2018-2019).

Four-Man Facilitating

Thad serves as connective tissue within half-court sets by providing valuable secondary and tertiary playmaking. At the four, he's an above-average passer who selflessly seeks out his basket cutters. He's notched positive assist-to-turnover ratios in most of his NBA campaigns.

Forcing Turnovers

Young's greatest defensive strength is his disruptiveness. He has a superb feel for when to come over and double, when to dig in on the ball, getting plucks in other ways. Fast hands and a near-7'0" wingspan help out too.

The New Orleans native has been in the top-25 for steals per-36 many times in his career. Recently he's done so in three years from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020. This is an encouraging sign, able to sustain a strong steal rate as his athleticism wanes.

The relatively new advanced tracking has helped capture the "little things" Thad has always done. In only 24.9 mpg, Young averaged 2.7 defections for 2019-2020. That knotted him with Anthony Davis, Ricky Rubio, and Danny Green.

Young's hustle stats become extremely impressive on a per-36 basis. That 2.7 mark skyrocketed to 4.0/contest for the season. That tied him up with players like Ben Simmons and Robert Covington.

Multi-Position Defense

Thad has made a career out of being such a versatile defender. What was once viewed as a knock on him is now a strength. Back in the late 2000's, teams questioned his ability to check bruising power forwards full-time. As the NBA has changed stylistically, his switchability has proved abundantly valuable.

The former Yellow Jacket is very spry as a nominal four-man. In reality, he ends up checking players of all shapes and sizes with some effectiveness. In his prime, he was a guy you can stick on the opposition's star wing.

Guarding In Space

He can defend guards for a spell after a switch takes place. Thad plays with his feet to ensure his body is in the right places as his man attacks. This feet-first approach has allowed him to always be a guy who manages his foul counts.

Within the confines of the key, Thad's solid contests and charge-taking are value-adds. He is more than willing to put his body on the line with this less-orthodox form of rim protection. 2018-2019 had him with the seventh-most charges drawn at 23.

WEAKNESSES

Weak Shooting

Being a subpar jump-shooter is only palatable as a five-man in the modern NBA. Thad, who's played tons of three and four, has never quite gotten his jumper down. His form is a little wonky, and the results are also lackluster.

He's fallen below league average from deep in all but a couple of his seasons. This has kept him from being a serviceable pop/trail three guy, hamstringing his team's lineup possibilities in the process. He hasn't fared much better on his two-point jumpers – combined 66/198 (33.3%) from midrange from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020.

His off-ball scoring value is overly dependent on his cutting and glass-crashing. This is because he's only shot north of 38% on spot-up threes once from 2013-2014 to 2019-2020. Luckily, he's played beside some step-out bigs like Lauri Markkanen and Myles Turner.

The free-throw line hasn't been too kind to Thaddeus. He has actually regressed since a couple of 70%+ years during his Sixer days. More recently, he's settled in as a 55-65% guy.

Struggles on Fives

At 6'8", 235lbs., Thad has struggled to check centers throughout his career. As primarily a four due to other shortcomings, he should be able to offer decent defensive stands against five-men. Centers shot 61.4% when guarded by Thad in 2019-2020.

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bacon
Beacon Bacon

Thad was on the All-Rookie Second Team back in 2007-2008 as a Philadelphia 76er