With November in the books, the NBA named its Rookies of the Month for the Eastern and Western Conference, and the Atlanta Hawks had a familiar name listed for the East.
Trae Young, rookie point guard for the Atlanta Hawks, was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for November. In what was a classic twist of fate, the Western Conference ROM was Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks – two players that were traded for one another on draft night.
While Ice Trae was certainly deserving of his Eastern Conference honors, what this award truly conveys is the omnipresent disparity in talent between the two conferences.
While the East boasts some interesting rookies such as Young, his teammate Kevin Huerter, the Cavs’ Collin Sexton, the Knicks’ Kevin Knox and Allonzo Trier, the 76ers’ Landry Shamet and the Bulls’ Wendell Carter Jr., the West is stacked with Rookie of the Year contenders such as Doncic, DeAndre Ayton, Jaren Jackson Jr. as well as sturdy contributors like Mikal Bridges, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Okogie, Marvin Bagley and Hamidou Diallo.
Despite that disparity, Young definitely deserved his Eastern Conference nod, and he would’ve still been under consideration for the award even if he did play in the West.
Among rookies, Young has put up staggering numbers through the first 24 games for the Hawks. Young has played the second-most minutes of any rookie (698), and he has the most assists by a mile (178 total), which is 93 more than his closest competitor (Doncic with 85).
Beyond that, Young is first among all rookies in total points scored with 378 – just eking ahead of Ayton (373) and Doncic (369).
One thing is certain: the 2018 Draft Class is shaping up to be an incredibly deep one full of players that will be stars in the very near future. Both players named as ROMs are among them, and the Atlanta Hawks and their fans should be glad that its prolific point guard is among them.