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Hawks Trae Young Named to Second Team All-Summer League

By Chris Guest

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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After an eventful early summer for the Atlanta Hawks and new point guard Trae Young, the team will finally have some time to regroup and practice as a unit before playing preseason games starting in October.

During their stints at both the Utah and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, multiple new members of the Hawks showed flashes of skill and grew before our eyes. One notable example was Trae Young.

The Hawks #5 overall pick – who the team traded down from #3 to #5 to obtain. Giving up the rights to Luka Doncic was always going to be dicey in the eyes of many, and the early returns for Trae in Utah were… less than spectacular.

However, he turned it up in the sweltering dry heat of Vegas and erupted for 24 points and 7 made three-pointers in his first action in Vegas. He was rather impressive throughout and saw action in 4 total games.

In the end, Ice Trae put up per-game numbers of 17 points, 6.8 assists and 1.5 steals in nearly 26 minutes a contest, which allowed to walk away with Second Team All-Summer League honors.

On the Second Team, he joined his fellow 2018 first round picks DeAndre Ayton (#1) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (#4) as well as second round selection Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and second-year player Wade Baldwin.

Trae was the only Hawk to make an All-Summer League team this season, though certainly both Tyler Dorsey and John Collins would’ve qualified had they played more games.

Though Trae exploded onto the scene in his first game with 24 points, perhaps his signature summer league achievement came in the Hawks’ 27-point comeback against the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the Summer League playoff.

The Hawks seemed listless and detached for much of the game, lollygagging their way to a 27-point deficit in the 3rd quarter. However, on the back of a fun, defensive-minded lineup (that Trae was not included in), the team whittled that lead down to a far more manageable total – and then Trae Young took over.

Young scored 7 points, including a clutch floater to put the Hawks up 4 with just over 10 seconds to go in the 4th, and put forth 5 straight assists in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter to ice the game. Young seemingly had that look in his eye, and he was able to slice and dice the defense apart with his pinpoint passing and crafty drives to the rim.

After all was said and done, the Hawks had outscored the Pacers 67 to 39 in the 2nd half to steal a victory in Vegas.

Though Trae Young had an up-and-down Summer League, he showed enough flashes to make the decision to take him #5 a solid one.

Next: Hawks Projected Starting Lineup for 18-19 Season

Now, we wait for the regular season to see how he looks against the best of the best in the NBA.

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