Atlanta Hawks rookie Trae Young made waves in college basketball last year with his insane long-distance shots. Most people view Young as a three-point specialist, and many compared his game to two-time MVP Stephen Curry.
However, head coach Lloyd Pierce believes that Young's best skill is his passing and noted that this often gets overlooked, per Brad Rowland of Dime Magazine.
Lloyd Pierce mentions that Trae Young’s passing is his “best skill” and notes that it sometimes gets overlooked.
Calls him a “unique and special passer.”
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) February 13, 2019
Young had an excellent game in the Hawks' 117-113 home victory over the Los Angeles Lakers as he finished with 22 points and 14 assists. The first year coach raved about how his point guard set the tone early and added that this was key to get everybody in a good rhythm to help the young Hawks fend off the slumping Lakers.
This surely isn't the first time that someone spoke highly about Young's under-the-radar passing skills. Hall of Famer and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash also said prior to the start of the season that Young is a very good passer, and he, in fact, sees a lot of himself in the spit-fire marksman's game. Young also went on the record to say that he tries to pattern his game more to Nash than Curry's.
Young has certainly shown flashes of being an elite passer, leading all rookies in assists with 7.6 per game. However, the 2018 fifth overall pick has struggled with his shot so far, shooting just 40.8 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from deep, en route to 16.9 points a night.
Young is already being labeled as the guy who was traded for Dallas Mavericks super rookie Luka Doncic. If he can continue to mold his game into Nash's more and find a niche for himself as perhaps the league's best passer one day, maybe all the comparisons between the two will die down.
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