Trae Young
Atlanta Hawks

Player Facts

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 180lbs.

Wingspan: 6'3"

Date of Birth:
Sep. 19, 1998
College Experience: Oklahoma (1 year)

Selections

All Star: 3
All-NBA: 1
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 3
Positional Size: 5
Positional Wingspan: 5
Paint Scoring: 5
Midrange Scoring: 6
Three-Point Scoring: 9
Dribbling: 9
Passing: 9
Perimeter Defense: 2
Interior Defense: 1
Rebounding: 4

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Driving Runway + Deep Range

> Floaters and Runners

> Getting to the Line

> Speed + Ball-Handling

> Creating for Others

> Rebounding + Bombing in Transition

> Rail-Thin Frame + Disastrous Defense

> Troubles with Interior Finishing + Questionable Shot Chart

> Lacking Care for the Basketball

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of Smart Highlights & NF Highlights (YouTube)

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

Upon entering the league, Trae Young quickly began proving himself as a dangerous three-point shooter, with a deep range similar to Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard. Trae's dynamic shooting prowess extends all the way back to midcourt, with the confidence to regularly pull up from anywhere on the floor.

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Driving Runway + Deep Range

The fact that he garners this degree of defensive attention so far from the basket helps set up the rest of Trae's offensive game as well. For instance, he has the quickness to get past his primary defender who's likely playing him tightly with or without the help of a high screen. This allows Trae to get downhill and build up speed to attack the heart of the defense and make plays.

Trae finished inside of the top ten for threes made in his 2019-2020 sophomore season, totaling 205 of them at a 36% clip. He piles up above-the-break threes, with 192 makes in 2019-2020, as such as deadly one-dribble pull-up threat off the ball screen.

The 6'1" guard averaged a whopping 15.3 points per game as the screen-and-roll initiator that same year. 2021-2022 saw him really shine here, landing in the league's 80th percentile as the catalyst in ball screen actions. His 13.6 points per night out of this play type was tops in the NBA.

For the most part, Young has to manufacture his own three-point attempts off the dribble, where he uses his quick release and smooth stroke to hit unassisted threes. However, he becomes far more efficient from three off the catch, averaging a superb 48.1% on catch-and-shoot threes in 2021-2022.

Young's quick shot release allows him to avoid getting his jumper blocked, for the most part, standing at only 6'1" with a 6'3" wingspan. With a defender contesting well, he will often still get a quality shot off. In 2019-2020, Trae shot a very respectable 37.5% from three when a defender was between 0-2 feet from him.

At the end of close ball games, Young's shot-making and facilitating shine through. He can manufacture his own jumper with that handle and rapid release. When the defense focuses too heavily on him, he pivots to playmaking mode to locate cutters and open shooters.

Trae averaged 3.3 clutch points a night in 2018-2019 (identical to LeBron James, Paul George) and upped that to 4.2 his next year (besting Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler). He notched a still-impressive 3.2 figure in 2020-2021.

Teammates of his regularly set very high screens for Trae which have to be respected by the defense. Young is too good of a shooter to be granted any space to let it fly off the ball screen. Trae will heavily exploit opposing teams that refuse to deviate from their defensive drop coverage.

Floaters and Runners

Trae's floater package is broad, a very useful skill set within his offense. Attacking after a ball screen, he will use his floater before the paint defender comes up far enough to contest.

He made 73 buckets from within the 10 to 14-foot range in 2019-2020, squarely within the top 10. He increased that output to 83 makes in 2020-2021. Trae leverages the threat of his floater into hesitation-explosions, catching the help defender flat-footed as they come up to take away that runner.

Getting to the Line

He gets to the line extremely well, knowing how to use his body to smartly draw fouls. Young is very efficient from the line, at 83% in 2018-2019 and 86% in 2019-2020. He made 481 total free throws in 2019-2020, good for second in the Association behind James Harden despite playing 60 games.

The wily Trae knows exactly how to use his counterpart's momentum against them. A prime example of such is when he comes to a full stop after using the ball screen. Defenders 9 times out of 10 are pursuing hard over the pick and therefore cannot prevent themselves from bumping into Young as he stops on a dime. This all contributes to him being one of the shrewdest foul-drawers on jumpers.

Speed + Ball-Handling

Athletically, Trae brings incredible speed to his team. His masterful quickness and agility help him break down the defense and burst to the hoop for his classic highly placed scoop layups when attacking narrow driving angles.

Young has a tight handle, with outstanding ball-handling fundamentals complemented by his flashier dribble moves. He uses his off-arm well to protect the ball against the defense on his drives. Trae's ball skills are a necessity as he is usually one of the smallest and lightest players on the floor and therefore cannot rely on physicality.

Creating for Others

Trae skillfully spearheads his team's offensive attack when he is on the floor. A true floor general, Trae accounted for a sky-high 50.8% of the Hawks' total assists and 36.2% of their threes made in 2019-2020. He does a phenomenal job of scanning the floor after both single screens and double drags.

With spectacular vision, he can see passing windows before they materialize and will employ pass fakes to enlarge these windows. He can craftily simulate numerous pass types to get defenders lunging in the wrong direction. Young initiates an abundance of pick-and-rolls every game, the backbone of his offensive gameplan.

He is an ambidextrous passer who finds cutters with precise deliveries as they are in stride. He has the vision to see these cuts begin out of his peripheral vision and will routinely complete this pass despite being involved primarily in a screen-and-roll himself for instance.

A pick-and-roll genius who knows when to reject the screen, Young is proficient at threading the needle for pinpoint passes in tight passing lanes. He will manipulate the defense with his elusive handle and shiftiness until the pass presents itself. Trae is one of the game's most adept as an interior passer.

Trae throws accurate pocket passes and lobs to the roll man such as John Collins with regularity on their dives to the cup. That Young-to-Collins connection in particular produced an abundance of points in 2019-2020.

Trae assisted John 119 times that year which was good for the fifth most productive duo in this capacity. Delving deeper, Collins shot a sparkling 57.7% on his 215 looks set up by Young that year. That successful partnership continued on in 2020-2021 when Young dimed up John 141 times.

He is also supremely talented when it comes to finding shooters like Kevin Huerter and De'Andre Hunter with perfect-velocity passes after collapsing the defense. He is generally quite skillful at reading how the opponent is covering the screen-and-roll then exploiting their weaknesses.

Just the first step over by a defender in rotation can notify Trae that the sling to a weak side shooter is available. His drive-and-kick game in general is savant-like. All told, 2020-2021 saw him generate the third-most points for teammates during the regular season.

Rebounding + Bombing in Transition

A decent rebounder at his size, he can be quick to the ball after it ricochets off the rim. This often leads to a semi-transition opportunity where the speedy Young thrives. Trae will routinely make slick feeds right off the dribble after scanning the floor for running mates. The lead guard's outlet passers are also top tier.

Pulling up from downtown on the break is a commonly used weapon of Trae's. The Oklahoma product will pull the trigger unless the proper defensive pressure is applied by the opposition. With the defender's concern in mind, Young will hesitate momentarily to simulate the pull-up, then scurry to the rack. 2019-2020 saw him record 313 transition points which outpaced Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, and Zach LaVine.

WEAKNESSES

Rail-Thin Frame + Defensive Disastrous

Trae's extremely slight build causes large problems for him on both ends. Listed at 180 pounds, he struggles mightily when guarded by a physical defender. On the other end, the short and light Trae gets targeted repeatedly as the weakest link in the defensive unit.

Defensively, Trae's virtually a non-factor. He is subject to being blown by, powered through, and shot over. His lack of physicality and size at 6'1" is compounded by his lackadaisical approach and unwillingness to fight through screens on this end. Young will often be hidden on defense, instructed to almost exclusively guard standstill shooters whenever possible.

Troubles with Interior Finishing + Questionable Shot Chart

His size, lack of lift on his layups, and slight build are all reasons to cite for his low efficiency on shots at the rim. Trae regularly has his shot blocked by rotating bigs in the painted area.

From less than five feet from the basket, he shot a relatively poor 57.3%, a mark worse than similar-sized guards like Dennis Schroder, Collin Sexton, and Derrick Rose (2019-2020). He regressed to 52.9% in this zone during 2020-2021.

Young takes several bad shots and shoots from deep three-point range in instances when it is not justified. He posted paltry field goal percentages of 42% and 44% in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 respectively. With a player like Young, one is better off looking at true shooting percentage. However, it must be further contextualized as he has low clips in critical areas such as right-at-the-rim.

Lacking Care for the Basketball

Trae is an immensely high turnover player who forces a lot of poorly thought-out passes. He tends to pick up his dribble too early without a clear intention in mind. These frequent cough-ups rendered Trae a sub-2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio player in 2019-2020.

By carrying such an enormous offensive burden for his team, the turnover rate is partially understandable. Still, his carelessness with the ball should still be vastly improved upon in the future.

Young was third in the league in turnovers committed in 2018-2019 at 308 on the season, and second in the league in 2019-2020. He was again third in the Association with 261 cough-ups in 2020-2021.

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Beacon Bacon

Young debuted as an All-Star in his second NBA season at the age of 21, six years younger than his idolized Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash was when he premiered as an All-Star