The NBA's Most Valuable Player award is given to the best of the best. Putting up incredible individual numbers while leading a team to the top of the standings is no simple task. Last season, the top three candidates for this award were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. It could have gone to any of the three.
Many expect this to remain the same next season. It went to Gilgeous-Alexander in large part due to the overall success that Oklahoma City saw in the regular season. He averaged 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.4 assists while leading the Thunder to a 68-14 record. They were one of the most dominant teams to ever play, and SGA was the one who made that happen.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic will, without a doubt, be leading candidates for this award once again. Giannis Antetokounmpo, however, will not have an impressive enough team record to keep up with them. Outside of Giannis himself, Milwaukee's roster on paper is one of the worst in the league. It would require one of the best individual seasons of all time from Antetokounmpo to keep the Bucks near the top of the Eastern Conference.
With Milwaukee set to take a huge step back, and Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton both expected to miss the entire season due to injuries, someone has got to step up and represent the East. There has never been a better opportunity for Hawks guard Trae Young to prove that he is one of the league's best.
The case for Young's MVP hopes
The numbers have always been there for Young, that has never been and never will be an issue. The problem with him in previous years, according to the national media, has been his inability to win. The best regular season record for the Atlanta Hawks in the Trae Young era was in the 2021-22 season, where they went 43-39. Saying that he is not a winning player is a fair argument until a deeper dive into the context of his career is done.
Atlanta has done a poor job overall at building a team around their star when considering his strengths and weaknesses. Young is a generational offensive engine who has struggled on the defensive end for most of his career because of his size. Every superstar has their limitations, but franchises have been quick to cover those weaknesses by giving them an elite supporting cast.
Most of Young's peers, including Luka Doncic, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jalen Brunson, have benefitted from incredible roster construction. They have been gift-wrapped the respect that Young has deserved for his entire career. Entering his eighth NBA season, Trae Young now has the roster he has been waiting for.
Former GM Landry Fields and current GM Onsi Saleh had a vision for this young Atlanta Hawks team. Fields got it started with the acquisition of lockdown defender Dyson Daniels in the 2024 offseason, and Saleh has spent the entirety of his first summer as the organization's top decision-maker filling the gaps in the rotation with impactful veterans.
Young knows he has a lot to prove this season. It could be a contract year after all. With his new teammates being able to maximize his offensive game and cover up his limitations on the defensive end, the idea of Trae Young having the best season of his career and developing into an MVP candidate could become an unexpected reality.
He turned a lot of heads last season. While his efficiency was down from previous years, he led the league in assists (11.6) and total assists (880). He did this even with the season-ending injuries to Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela. Young's playmaking had Atlanta near the top of the league in shot-quality, but they were in the bottom half of the league in three-point percentage.
As a direct response to this, GM Onsi Saleh brought in three elite shooters: Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, and Caleb Houstan. The three new additions each shot over 40% from outside last season. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who Atlanta acquired this offseason via sign-and-trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, shot just under that mark at 38.1% from deep.
With all of these new scorers, Young's point total may go down, but his assists and efficiency should skyrocket. If everything goes according to plan, he should still average over 20 points per game, with an improved assists mark reaching over 13 a night. While those do not sound like usual MVP numbers, NBA fans have seen a similar situation where the unsuspected player brought home the award.
It happened twice when Steve Nash, Young's favorite player of all time, had back-to-back MVP seasons in 2005 and 2006. During this two-year period, Nash's peak numbers were 18.8 points and 11.5 assists. The factors that made him stand out from the rest of the competition, however, were his team's success in Phoenix and remarkable efficiency. While he may never have the rare efficiency that Nash displayed in those two years, Young has all the tools to lead this Atlanta Hawks team to the top of the Eastern Conference and put up incredible numbers along the way.
A Trae Young MVP would be one of the greatest stories in basketball history. While it may be a long shot, there has never been a greater chance for him to shock the world than this year in a wide open conference.