Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young Looks Good in Vegas Debut

The Atlanta Hawks and new point guard Trae Young locked talons with the New York Knicks in their Las Vegas Summer League debut on Saturday.

Multiple players showed out, including Second Team All-Rookie member John Collins, who put up what would be a career-high in the NBA of 30 points.

However, the most notable performer in the tilt for Atlanta was Trae Young, who put to bed all the concerns over his first three games in Utah and put an excellent double-double of 21 points and 11 assists.

Though he only shot 4 of 12 from the field in the game, he got the free throw line for 12 attempts and his foul-drawing skills are already quite well developed. Trae only shot 3 of 9 from beyond the arc, but his trademark long-distance sniping was on display, as he hit some long bombs – including his first three of the day:

Another notable element of Trae’s game is his passing, which was also in full effect in the game against the Knicks. His heady passing found multiple teammates in great position, and his heads-up ability to find players in transition and in broken plays should make him an exciting player for Hawks fans (and his Hawks teammates).

Notably, Young makes quick decisions with the ball in his hands – especially as a passer. Sure, sometimes those quick decisions lead to itchy trigger finger deep three-pointers, but with some coaching, that overzealous shooting should be curtailed.

One such quick decision was off a made bucket by the Knicks, when Young quickly nabbed the inbounds pass, immediately looked up and sent a deep outlet to the opposite left corner where Tyler Dorsey was waiting; TD took two steps, then had an easy layup.

That’s just one example. Throughout the game, Young was making easy reads as well as tough passes, such as a difficult wrap-around pass as he was cut off driving the lane – leading to an easy bucket from John Collins.

So far through 4 professional (preseason) games, Trae Young’s career has been a mixed bag. However, the key number there is four. Young has only played 4 career games after a summer of immense build-up, as well as the gutsy move of GM Schlenk trading the rights to Luka Doncic for Trae.

Still though, when Trae looked like he might get hot from distance, the energy in the Las Vegas arena seemed to change. When Trae did hit a three – especially from exceptionally long-distance – there were very loud gasps and cheers from the audience. Sure, the jeers and hoots from naysayers when he airballed a three later on were just as loud, but it feels as if NBA fans are looking for Trae to succeed.

Next: Ranking the Hawks 7 Best Young Assets

The Hawks play again on Sunday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. EST, so keep it locked to Soaring Down South for all of your Hawks Summer League updates.