Soaring Down South
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Hawks Fans, Let’s Stay Optimistic About Trae Young

By Jack ODonnell

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JULY 5: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks shoots a free throw against the Utah Jazz on July 5, 2018 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JULY 5: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks shoots a free throw against the Utah Jazz on July 5, 2018 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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As the Atlanta Hawks trot through the Utah Summer League with Las Vegas soon to come, it’s been a less-than-ideal start for new franchise cornerstone Trae Young.

Young is averaging 28.3 minutes a game with 12.7 PPG, 3.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1 steal and 3.7 turnovers for the Hawks after three Summer League games. At first glance, that doesn’t look to bad (even if the assist and scoring totals seem a little low), but taking one look at the shooting percentages might make you gag.

Young is shooting a horrific 23% (12/52) from the field and has made only 3 (!!!) of his 24 attempted 3-pointers. The Oklahoma product took college basketball by storm last season with his insane shooting range and very underrated passing. While he has shown some acumen with the ball, his touch from deep has abandoned him in Utah.

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Now lets put a MASSIVE disclaimer on all of these stats. Summer League is a stupid but fun thing that the NBA uses to evaluate players before they even step on a real court. Stephen Curry shot 32% from the field in his Summer League tenure while Kyle Lowry shot 11% from 3.

Using Summer League as a starting point can be useful but using it as an end-all, be all for an NBA rookie is flat-out wrong. The NBA is completely different than Summer League and everyone needs to realize that.

However, therein lies the problem. The reason Summer League is nothing like the NBA is due to the fact that the quality of player is severely lacking and very little defense is played. Young should be a Summer League superstar even though he is slight of frame and can’t play much defense.

Going against other players his age and level of skill, tacked on to the fact that NBA-level defenders aren’t playing him like they would in the middle of December, Young should be slicing defenses apart. Instead, he’s jacking up shots and simply looks lost out there. He doesn’t seem to realize how small he is and perhaps needs to take a look in the mirror about his style of play.

https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1015065917477097474

This may be a time for experimentation for Young. He might be testing his range or deciding what will and won’t work in the NBA, but he needs to show some sort of life in at least one of these games or the whole Atlanta fanbase will continue its apoplectic behavior.

Young dealt with the spotlight in college basketball and it seemed to beat down on him near the end of the season after his meteoric rise. If he doesn’t want that negative spotlight heading into the NBA, he needs to have a breakout game in Las Vegas.

Next: Ranking the Hawks 7 Best Young Assets

With Schlenk making such a big trade to get Young, giving up Luka Doncic as I am sure none of us have forgotten, Young has gotten off to a very bad (even in Summer League) start. Any Atlanta Hawks fan already screaming bust or calling for Schlenk’s job is very stupid. But Trae for the love of all things Atlanta, please just start hitting shots.

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