When your best player describes themselves as a “student of the game” right off of the bat, that can only be a good thing. That is the case with the Atlanta Hawks and point guard Trae Young. The four-year pro is already one of the game’s best and, in many aspects, has been the best at what he does.
Young is as dynamic of a scorer as you will find in the game today. Not only does he sport elite range but he also gets to the rim almost at will. Once there, his ability to hit a floater or a teammate for a lob often leaves defenders frozen.
This past season, the 23-year-old Young led the NBA in total points and total assists, a feat that had not been accomplished in 50 years.
Now, add a 26-year-old feisty defender that also averaged a near-triple-double to that.
Trae Young sounds off on ‘scary’ thing about the Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks’ trade for Dejounte Murray has been slammed by rivals and praised by pundits which probably means they did something right. Murray is fresh off of his first All-Star nod and has been stirring it up on the summer pro-am circuit. Young has been grinding as well. But he spoke with Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports about his new teammate and a slew of other things.
“I mean that’s kind of scary if you think about it. I think people don’t really understand how dynamic of a backcourt that can be with two guys who can score. Both can score 20 plus. Both can get nine plus assists a game. You can’t really double one or the other, and if you do, you really pick your poison, because we have other weapons around.”
To that last point, the Hawks still have John Collins in the fold despite never-ceasing trade rumors. And they held De’Andre Hunter out of trade talks all but completely. We have also seen Clint Capela in the gym and training with Young.
Having those three players healthy heading into next season has to be a priority after all were slowed by varying ailments this past season.
The Hawks are already dealing with Bogdan Bogdanovic’s recovery as well as that of Jalen Johnson following his “non-surgical” procedure. Johnson is in line for a major role following the Murray trade which sent out Danilo Gallinari.
And third-year big man Onyeka Okongwu is a center, not a power forward.
Young went on to say that he expects the season to be fun. Perhaps that is because he likes the Hawks’ chances of proving the pundits wrong.
“My main focus is to win, because I want to bring some of these people with me to the top.”
He and the Hawks could make a lot of noise this season with the third-easiest schedule, per PositiveResidual.com.