Atlanta Hawks: Luka’s Shooting Swoon Means Trae Back in ROY Race

A quick comparison between the recent play of Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.

When the Atlanta Hawks traded away Euroleague MVP Luka Doncic in favor of collegiate superstar Trae Young, many thought Atlanta hade made an unfathomable blunder. Doncic had been playing professionally since he was 16, so the common narrative went, whereas Young was a flash-in-the-pan volume chucker who seemed to collapse down the end of the season as his Oklahoma team just barely qualified for the First Four in the NCAA Tournament.

How times have changed. After the two players started out with completely different trajectories – with Luka dominating and Trae struggling mightily over the first couple months of the season – now, the gap has narrowed to an almost infinitesimal degree. Young’s resurgence has been so impressive, perhaps the Rookie of the Year race needs to be relitigated.

Early on in the season, and in many cases even now, Luka Doncic’s name was already deeply etched onto the Rookie of the Year trophy. However, with Young’s surge in recent months (including being unquestionably the best rookie over the past few months), perhaps the engravers need to be alerted that another name might need to be placed on the statuette.

To start the year, Doncic’s ability to drill step-back threes had everyone impressed, and his three-point shooting overall was exceptional. Ice Trae, on the other hand, shot under 20 percent in his first month in the league. That massive disparity led to some people belittling Trae’s ability and label him a bust – even going all the way back to exhibition games in Summer League.

However, with the recent uptick in Young’s efficiency, here is an extremely notable stat that might throw water on Doncic’s ROY case: As of this writing on 3-17-19, Luka Doncic and Trae Young are shooting the exact same percentage on three-pointers for the season at 33.9 percent.

Sure, Doncic has taken 47 more in 6 less games, but Trae has been known to pull up from just inside half-court on his shots. When compared to Luka’s popular step-backs, the degree of difficulty is high for both players.

Luka’s per-game numbers (21.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 5.7 APG) are likely too gaudy to be ignored for Rookie of the Year, but let’s not forget about the incredible rookie year that Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks is having as well.

As one of the league’s best passers as part of the Hawks’ backcourt of the future (with Kevin Huerter), Trae Young’s terrific season should not be ignored. He has been supremely clutch and a joy to watch as the best rookie in franchise history, and the future certainly looks bright in Atlanta.