Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young’s Pick-and-Roll Volume Already Sky-High

A quick look at the pick-and-roll numbers for Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young.

In his rookie season, Trae Young jumped out of the gate with one of the best rookie seasons in recent memory and easily the best rookie season in Atlanta Hawks franchise history.

Though his stellar numbers weren’t quite good enough to defeat the immensely heavy-handed narrative surrounding Luka Doncic in Rookie of the Year, Young proved himself to be a brilliant offensive initiator and an overall virtuoso on the more glamorous end.

Of course, his defense was putrid, but the early returns in preseason showcase Young’s continued ability to improve on that end as well.

According to statistics from Joseph Gill of Mercenary Analytics, no player ran more pick-and-roll possessions last year than first-year point guard Trae Young did:

Gill dug deeper into the numbers by filtering out transition to showcase Young was already producing offense at an above-average level on the highest volume in the NBA in his first season:

So what does that mean for Young’s future? Well, indeed, his defense (if it is not improved) will severely hamper his ceiling, as even if he is masterminding a brilliant offense on one end, if he’s hemorrhaging points on the other end, it kind of evens out, right?

We’ve previously explored how Young’s penchant for bad defense and turnovers must be a main focus for the 21-year-old, but per Gill’s research, it is clear that our previous claims calling Young an elite offensive player already are not unfounded.

The future is bright for Trae Young and, by extension, for the entire Atlanta Hawks young core, but is the 2019-20 season too early to anoint them as a playoff team in a weakened Eastern Conference? Perhaps, but with Trae Young on the floor, the Hawks will perpetually have a threatening offense.