The Atlanta Hawks are seeing the maturation of Trae Young

The Atlanta Hawks are starting to have a really good season. Since interim coach Nate McMillan took over, they have been hard to beat. They have moved from 11th in the Eastern Conference to fourth and don’t look like slowing down.

They have done this off the back of a full team effort of everyone who is healthy. The Hawks have had so many of their top players out it cost Lloyd Pierce his job. However, one player who has been there for most of the season has been their superstar point guard, Trae Young.

Young has been good this year, averaging 25.2 points, 9.4 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game. His scoring average is down from last seasons’ 29.6 points per game but with the extra help he has this year, that is to be expected.

How the Atlanta Hawks are benefitting from Trae Young maturing.

Now that the Hawks have developed one of the best bench units in the NBA, there is not as much pressure on Young. He is still able to step up when he needs to. Young has 11 games this season where he has scored 32 points or more and the Hawks have not lost one of them.

However, he is showing growth elsewhere. His turnovers have gone down by 0.4 per game. This may not sound like much but any decrease in turnovers by a ball-dominant point guard is a positive for the team.

Add to that, Young is making better decisions with the ball. Two plays come readily to mind.

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The first is this play against the Golden State Warriors. Kevin Huerter gets the ball to a very open Young on the wing. Young has barely scored on the night but instead of putting up a 3-point shot, he opts to reward his big man for running the floor and gives the assist for a high percentage shot at the rim.

This shows the desire to do what is best for the team, rather than pad any stats which Young may have done in the past. If he keeps making plays like this, then the whole team will benefit and play harder to win.

The other play which comes to mind was the game-winner against the Toronto Raptors. There were seven seconds left on the clock. The ball is inbounded to Young who drives towards the hoop, trying to make a play to send the game into overtime.

Young is cut off from the hoop and is forced to give the ball up. He is able to spot Snell, execute the pass and watch his teammate make the game-winner. Young then celebrates as much as anybody, reveling in the success of a teammate for the success of the team.

However, where the growth of Young is most evident is the way he responded to being benched against the Golden State Warriors in the last few minutes in a close game. Lou Williams was playing a better game and was more dangerous.

How did Young respond when he was subbed out? By celebrating the success of the team with each play. Players are not judged entirely on their successes whilst in the league, but how they respond to adversity also. Young is showing that he is putting pride away and doing what the team needs.