Defenders Legs’ Beware: Trae Young Has a Signature Move
By Dallin Duffy
Looking at the spiciest move in Trae Young’s arsenal.
From deep threes to flashy dimes to lethal floaters, there’s a lot of distinguishing factors that make Trae Young‘s game so tantalizing. The sophomore All-Star has tormented defenses since entering the league, with one move in particular splitting them easily: the nutmeg.
The nutmeg is a staple of pickup hoops, but has rarely been done in the NBA. Passing the ball through the legs of defenders happens most as an accident, but a few great ball-handlers have used the space to their advantage.
No one has ever used the nutmeg more productively than Trae Young however, who seems to nut a new meg weekly. While they do make the highlight rounds on Twitter and SportsCenter, they weren’t especially note-worthy until last weekend.
In the Hawks’ 129-117 win over Portland, Trae Young scored 25 points, making Trevor Ariza the latest victim of a leg-splitting nutmeg. Ariza, the 16-year veteran, did not take lightly to Young’s attempt, and stopped him with a hard shove.
The body-check ended up being being a flagrant, with Young getting points either way.
It’s nowhere near Trae’s first nutmeg, but it is the first to illicit a response from the victim. That might have turned some off from trying it again, but in the post game interview, Trae promised not to back down.
I asked Trae Young if he was going to stop nutmegging now because of Trevor Ariza's (old man yells at cloud) comments.
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) March 2, 2020
"Nah, I ain't about to stop nutmegging. That's going to be in my game until I'm done."
It seems Trae Young has a signature move, if he didn’t already with his 35-footers. Part of what makes the move so good is that he doesn’t do it nightly. He’s selective on when to dish them out, and they could get old/less effective if he tries them more often.
The nutmeg is always in his back pocket, and that should scare opposing defenders like Ariza, who don’t like “the funnies.”
Ricky Rubio, J.J. Redick, RJ Barrett, James Harden, Will Barton and even LeBron James have all been on the wrong side of one before Ariza, and there will likely be more added to that list soon.
Now if only the Hawks start winning. I can’t wait to see Trae nutmeg someone in the playoffs.
Hawks blown out by Memphis: Player Grades. dark. Next