Trae Young staked his claim as a future star during the second half of his rookie season, even playing well enough to steal a couple Rookie of the Year votes from landslide winner Luka Doncic. The Atlanta Hawks point guard showed a preview of what's to come in a potential breakout 2019-20 campaign at Drew League on Saturday, putting his show-stopping combination of ball-handling dynamism, passing flair, and limitless shooting range on full display.
Young scored 31 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished 12 assists, but his BB4L squad fell short nonetheless. Why? Mostly due to the presence of Montrezl Harrell, and Drew League star Frank Nitty, on the opposing side. The LA Clippers big man dominated the action with 46 points on 17-of-23 shooting, including an eye-popping 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Young averaged 19.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game in 2018-19, numbers that fail to reflect just how good he was over the season’s second half, when Atlanta began separating itself from the rest of the league’s bottom-dwellers. The Hawks went a solid 10-14 after the All-Star break, buoyed by an offense that ranked 11th in the NBA.
Young, not coincidentally, averaged 24.7 points and 9.2 assists per game over that timeframe, even hitting multiple game-winning shots at the buzzer.
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