Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young Ranked 12th in Point Guard Rankings
By Chris Guest
A quick look at Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young’s ranking in Bleacher Report’s recent ranking of the Top 15 point guards in the NBA.
After bursting onto the scene in his rookie season and challenging Luka Doncic for the Rookie of the Year crown by season’s end, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks quickly grew into one of the most entertaining players to watch on a night-to-night basis.
Beyond that, Young was an extremely effective player for the Hawks, and it became clear that any offense he is piloting is bound to be fairly good – though, of course, better personnel around him wouldn’t hurt.
As such, mainstream outlets began to recognize Young as the second-best rookie in his draft class and a clear-cut future All-Star for the Hawks. Now, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report has released his Top 15 Point Guards in the NBA story, where Trae Young is slotted in at #12 overall.
Young is ranked directly ahead of Lou Williams (#15), Eric Bledsoe (#14) and Malcolm Brogdon (#12) and directly behind Jamal Murray (#11), Kyle Lowry (#10) and Mike Conley (#9). That’s fairly strong company for the second-year guard, and it’s clear that Favale believes in Young as a future All-Star in the Eastern Conference.
In particular, Favale highlighted Ice Trae’s late-season heroics, in which he was clearly better than Doncic:
“[Young’s] late-season tear served as a more meaningful referendum: clear, conclusive proof of his All-Star arc. From Jan. 1 on, a stretch spanning more than half the season, Young averaged 21.9 points and 8.6 assists with a 43.3/35.3/85.4 shooting slash. He was even better after the All-Star break. His three-point efficiency never quite took off, but the Hawks weren’t—and still aren’t—built for him to be the most accurate scorer. Out of the 423 players who appeared in at least 20 games last year, only four had a greater share of their made triples go unassisted.”
Next. Trae Young Aiming for All-Star Game in Year 2. dark
As we’ve expressed before, Young’s brilliant end to the season easily cemented him as the best rookie in franchise history, and it’s good to see him getting plaudits from national writers as well.