Trae Young will never be a positive defender. He's one of the smallest players in the NBA, generously listed at 6'1, 164 pounds, absent the physical capabilities to consistently hold up in isolation and prove disruptive as a help defender. The outsized offensive responsibilities Young shoulders with the Atlanta Hawks is always bound to somewhat affect his engagement on that side of the ball, too.
But just because he's at an inherent disadvantage defensively hardly means Young is relegated to being one of the very worst defenders in the league for the duration of his career. The sixth-year point guard has worked harder than ever to prove as much in 2023-24, the latest example of his defensive strides coming in the final moments of the Hawks' hard-fought 157-152 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.
As Indiana led by three with just over 20 seconds left and the shot clock ticking below 10 seconds, Tyrese Haliburton targeted Young in pick-and-roll, hoping to go one-on-one against his Atlanta counterpart after a switch to ice the game. Haliburton got what he wanted, but Young didn't want cooperate, stripping the ball from Indiana's franchise player as he rose to shoot and igniting a transition opportunity the other way.
Dejounte Murray badly missed a reckless, quick-two layup on the other end, effectively ending the Hawks' hopes of a comeback victory. Still, Quin Snyder certainly didn't blame Young's defense for his team's loss, lauding the 25-year-old for his improved effort and overall play on that end of the floor.
“I'm glad you asked me that,” he told Jameelah Johnson of AtlHawksFans.com. “I've been saying it the whole year. To whatever extent there's a narrative that develops about someone, he's been good off the ball, he's been good on the ball, he's competed. I can show you a long edit of the times he's picked up full-court. Someone should talk about it. When you talk about Trae tonight, you'll talk about what a great offensive game he had, and he did. But it's one of the things that I've told him, even early in the year when some of his shots weren't going, he didn't stop defending. That's good to see, from all our guys.”
Trae Young's big two-way night vs. Pacers
Young finished with 38 points and eight assists on ridiculous 13-of-17 shooting against Indiana, also knocking down 5-of-8 from beyond the arc while going tit-for-tat offensively with Haliburton. The Pacers' All-Star floor general might've been even better than Young, dropping 37 points, five rebounds and 16 assists while draining nine three-pointers.
Young certainly isn't immune from blame for the Hawks' utter inability to contain Haliburton. He was never Haliburton's primary assignment, though, and Indiana owns league's best offense. It's not exactly surprising the Pacers carved up Atlanta at State Farm Arena.
But Young's defensive impact was notable for him nonetheless, and not just because he answered the call when Atlanta needed a stop most. He had three steals for the third time this season on Tuesday, the other two coming in help as he picked off passes to get the Hawks running the other way. Young willingly put his body at risk on multiple occasions, too, including drawing a charge in transition on Bruce Brown.
Activity, reliability and physicality is all anyone is asking of Young defensively. He seemed to offer those characteristics versus Indiana as much as he has all season, a development Snyder hopes will inspire Young's teammates as the season progress.
“That's the mentality we have to have,” he said of Young's defensive approach. “There are some things tonight that, obviously, defensively we can do better, and we played against a team that can score.”
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