Atlanta Hawks: Will Trae Young or Jeremy Lin Start at Point Guard?

A debate on which new point guard the Atlanta Hawks will start next year: Trae Young or Jeremy Lin.

The Atlanta Hawks brought in not one, not two but three new point guards (including Two-Way PG Jaylen Adams) during the 2018 offseason. In doing so, they lost both of their options at the one from last year in Dennis Schröder and Isaiah Taylor.

While the trade of Schröder was a huge success, it does beg the question: which player, Trae Young or Jeremy Lin, will the Hawks start at point guard to begin the 2018-19 season?

Each player has his merits, but at this point, there is really no telling how new head coach Lloyd Pierce will set up his rotations to begin the season.

Certainly, rookie Trae Young is expected to play big minutes and will likely start a ton of games as the season winds down, but to start the year, will the team opt for the steadier hand in veteran Jeremy Lin? Let’s find out.

We’ve already highlighted some reasons why we think that Atlanta Hawks brass will opt to begin the season with Jeremy Lin as the team’s starting point guard, with rookie Trae Young coming off the bench in bench sparkplug role.

But with the team clearly forefronting Young in marketing and promotional materials (see below), perhaps Ice Trae will get the nod in favor of Lin – allowing Linsanity to come off the bench as a steadying influence if Young’s play is a little too uneven or skittish.

Again, in terms of future outlook, there is no question that Trae Young is the future of the Hawks franchise – specifically at the point guard position – but for next season, perhaps Lin’s experience and veteran leadership will win out, allowing him to start at the point guard spot to begin the year.

Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk clearly values Lin’s skill set, as the team barely got anything in return for taking on Lin’s hefty salary (two future second-round draft picks was all the Hawks obtained).

That augurs that Lin will have plenty of rope with which to work, maybe even guaranteeing him a starting slot in 2018-19.

Still though, taking the ball out of the hands of Young, who led the NCAA last season with a sky-high 37.15 usage percentage, will stunt his development to some degree and not allow him to learn on the fly in-game – perhaps the most important classroom any rookie can learn in.

There are pros and cons to both scenario, but even though we think that Lin (who has had a fascinating career) will at least begin the season as the starting point guard, it probably won’t take long before Ice Trae gets his first start in a Hawks uniform.

For one thing, Lin might need rest on occasion as he returns from a very serious rupture of his patellar tendon last year. If that’s the case, Young will likely get thrust into the starting role, assuming that Lin is able to play and stay healthy to start the season.

Let’s hope he does, but either way, the Atlanta Hawks have an interesting conundrum on their hands at the point guard spot for next season.