Trae Young to Represent the Atlanta Hawks in 2K Tournament

Taking a look at Trae Young’s ability to represent the Atlanta Hawks in NBA 2K20.

On Tuesday morning (day 17 without basketball), ESPN and 2K sports announced a 16-player, 1v1 2K20 tournament consisting entirely of NBA players. Notable names included on the bracket were Kevin Durant The #1 seed), Donovan Mithcell, Devin Booker, and Zach LaVine, as well as Trae Young, who’ll be representing the Atlanta Hawks.

The players will be competing in the games’ ‘Blacktop’ mode, allowing them to play as themselves. Seeding was based on their current overall in the game, and with Trae Young sporting a 90 overall, he’ll be the second overall seed when it kicks off this Friday.

Young drew a matchup with Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes, who carries just a 78 overall rating but also has a good eight inches on Young. The full bracket can be seen below:

The size will be a major disadvantage for Young throughout the tourney, as if you’ve never played 2K, height is one of the most important stats in the game.

As for his chances of winning, no one has really much idea. Young has been spending a lot of his social-distancing time playing video games but has been sticking to Call of Duty mostly. I’ve tuned in to some of his streams with fellow Hawk Brandon Goodwin, and let’s just say Young did not look as talented in the virtual world as he does on the court in real life.

Of course, there are already betting odds on the tournament, with Odds Shark giving Trae +1500 odds to bring it home. That’s seventh-best behind Booker, Durant, Deandre Ayton, Donovan Mitchell, DeMarcus Cousins, and Andre Drummond.

The tournament will span ten days on ESPN and if ratings are good, we can expect a few more tournaments in future years, perhaps even later this summer if the COVID-19 breakout doesn’t improve.

It’s certainly a good idea to get some form of live sports back on the air, and for Atlanta Hawks fans, seeing Trae Young in action will feel good — even if he is animated.