4 key Atlanta Hawks trends to keep an eye on after the All-Star break

Hawks trend No. 4: It starts at the top

Trae Young is having an incredible season – like, historically good. The Hawks superstar is averaging 27.8 points, 9.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds this season joining Luka Doncic as the only players to do so. They are just two of 14 players to have those numbers in NBA history.

If you add in his efficiency (45.6% FG, 38.3% 3P) he is all alone on the mountaintop

He and Oscar Robertson are the only players to record those numbers multiple times. This would be the second time for Young who rung up a 29.6-point, 9.3-assist, and 4.3-board line in the 2020 season.

The original Big O (not to be confused with Onyeka Okongwu) accomplished the feat eight times in his illustrious career.

Young will have the chance to catch up. But we can’t overlook the forest for the trees. His production this season has been just as much out of necessity as it has been his talent simply being on display. Young has been the lone bright spot for this team on offense far too often this season.

We went over the impact of Young’s 40-point outings following his 40-point, nine-assist effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But, for our purposes, the Hawks were just 2-2 when Young went scored 40 or more points up to that point.

Defensively, he’s given better effort.

Thanks to his physical limitations, though, it hasn’t always translated or shown up in the box score.

That has led to him catching a ton of slander for what many perceive as a lack of effort on that end. We have even said that the team’s defensive turnaround needed to start with him and John Collins. But the fact of the matter is the other Hawks players need to be more consistent or management might need to do a better job of building this thing out around him in the future.

Some have tried to argue that Young’s stats are more empty calories than anyone wants to admit. But there have been an innumerable amount of uber-talented players in the NBA that haven’t even been on the cusp of making history.

Young earned his first start in this year’s All-Star game after finishing with the second-most votes among East guards behind only Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan.