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Trae Young has gone from the most polarizing player in college basketball to the most polarizing player in this NBA draft.
Trae Young is either a future superstar or a career backup.
Either the next Steph Curry or the next Jimmer Fredette.
Either the answer or a risk. Check out what’s being said about Young in the lead-up to this NBA Draft, and you’ll see everything from glowing praise to withering condemnation. The opinions are so extreme that when Dan Patrick had Young on his show earlier this week, the host dedicated a whole segment to the good, the bad and the ugly of opinions about the Oklahoma point guard.
The most polarizing player in college basketball has become the most polarizing player in the NBA Draft.
On the night teams are put on the clock, what will it all mean for Young?
Most prognosticators believe he will be a lottery pick. But could he go as high as the top five? Will he be more in the seven to nine range? Might he fall out of the top 10?
Those question can’t be answered here.
One that can be, however, is this — why is there such disagreement about Young?
Back during the college season, the polarization stemmed from his early-season hype. The true freshman burst onto the college scene with his hair on fire, putting up crazy numbers, throwing even crazier passes and shooting the craziest shots. He played with a flare that isn’t often seen in the over-coached, oft-muted college game.
More than anything, he was fun. And everyone loved it.
But then Young and the Sooners started struggling, and suddenly, he was everything that was wrong with the game. Too many shots. Not enough passing. Too much usage. Not
enough efficiency.
By season’s end, he was a villain, despite leading the country in both scoring and assists.
Now comes the build up to the NBA Draft, and once again, basketball types are at odds again about Young. This time, the disagreement about him boils down to one question — will his offense make up for his suspect defense and his lacking size?
In today’s NBA, pickand-roll is the name of the game. Defenses
counter by switching, switching, switching. Those switches can create mismatches that benefit the team with the ball, and that can be disastrous for players of all sizes. Lumbering big men find themselves chasing speedy guards. Willowy wings get posted up by powerful forwards. But more than anything, offenses look to exploit the smallest player.
There aren’t a ton of guys in the league smaller than Young.
He measured at 6-feet-1¾ in shoes at the draft combine.
By comparison, Curry, the guy to whom Young
is often compared, measured 6-3¼ back in 2009 when he went to the combine. He was also 181.0 pounds at that combine but is now 190.
Young was 177.8 pounds at the combine.
Can he bulk up? Can he get stronger? Of course.
The same goes for improving his defense. Many defensively deficient prospects have gotten better as NBA players. No reason to think Young couldn’t do the same. But even if he does, it won’t make him any taller.
That is an issue. Then again, defensive struggles befall even some of the league’s best
point guards. Damian Lillard. Kyrie Irving. (Gasp!) Russell Westbrook. They can get exploited because they’re undersized or disinterested or any number of other things.
Their offense, however, more than makes up for their shortcomings defensively.
Will that be the case with Young?
We won’t know for sure until he starts playing in the NBA, but what we do know is that this past season he produced historic offensive numbers at a position that normally isn’t productive until later in a player’s career. Young averaged
27.4 points per game and 8.7 assists, numbers unlike anything ever seen in college basketball by a point guard of any age but numbers made even more impressive when posted by a 19-year-old freshman.
Curry’s numbers as a freshman at Davidson: 21.5 points, 2.8 assists.
Kemba Walker’s at Connecticut: 8.9 points, 2.9 assists.
Derrick Rose’s at Memphis: 14.9 points, 4.7 assists.
Steve Nash’s at Santa Clara: 8.1 points, 2.2 assists.
It’s also important to remember that Young’s numbers weren’t the
product of a one-trick pony. Even though he is known for his longdistance range, he has a jumper and a floater in addition to great handles, splendid passing skills and other-worldly court vision.
Can all of that make up for what he lacks on defense?
That is the question about Trae Young.
It’s all as fascinating as he is.