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If you haven't noticed, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young has been really, really good lately.
Between the end of February and the beginning of March, the rookie put together three straight James Harden-type performances, averaging 40.3 points, 11.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor, 53.3 percent from three-point range and 90.6 percent from the free-throw line.
He capped off that string of performances with a 49-point outburst in a wild 168-161 overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on March 1, where he went 17-of-33 from the field and drained six three-pointers.
Also, on Feb. 27, he made 16 free throws in a 36-point outing.
Obviously, early in the year, many felt that Atlanta would severely regret the draft night trade it made, where it picked Luka Doncic and then sent him to the Dallas Mavericks for Young.
Doncic looked like a stud right from the beginning of the season, while Young struggled mightily.
Of course, we are prone to knee-jerk reactions, so some of us elevated Doncic while already dooming Young.
But now, nearly five months into the season, the debate between Doncic and Young is starting to become much more, uh, debatable.
So, is Doncic really that much more valuable of a pick than Young? Or is Young equally valuable? Or possibly even more valuable?
Well, for starters, it's not like Young suddenly just started playing well. He was also good the entire month of February, as he registered 23.3 points, 9.3 assists and 4.3 boards a night. Sure, his field-goal percentage (41 percent) left a lot to be desired, but he made 43.7 percent of his triples and 84 percent of his foul shots (on 6.8 attempts per game) to compensate for it.
Honestly, outside of November where Young was absolutely awful, he has been at least passable at pretty much every point throughout the year.
The problem was that, over the first couple of months, Young couldn't seem to make three-pointers at a consistent rate, and the whole reason why he was considered a top-five talent by many was because of his range at Oklahoma.
Basically, if he wasn't making treys, he would be essentially worthless.
But now, Young is making threes, and his entire offensive game is opening up as a result. His playmaking ability also seems to be improving, and that has no doubt come with the fact that he is now a legitimate scoring threat.
Now let's look at Doncic.
The Mavericks rookie is an incredibly unique player, as he doesn't even really have a position. Is he a small forward? Is he a point guard? He's just that good offensively where you can slot him in almost anywhere and he would produce.
Right now, Doncic is a flat-out better all-around player than Young. While Young has been terrific lately, Doncic has been really solid all season long, and while he does need to work on his perimeter shot, he doesn't have any real gaping holes in his game.
Remember: defense also matters here, and while Doncic certainly isn't Kawhi Leonard, he at least has the length and the footspeed to guard multiple positions adequately. Young, on the other hand, is a massive defensive liability, not just due to his small stature, but also due to his lack of athleticism.
I know people love to use the Stephen Curry comparison when it comes to Young, and Curry was rail-thin like Young when he first came into the league, but he was a bit more athletic than Young and, as a result, wasn't as big of a defensive minus.
Really, it's hard to say where Young stands right now in comparison to Doncic. We need to be careful not to use this recent stretch as a determining factor, because when you look at the entire sample size, Doncic has simply been better.
Also, Young has cooled down significantly over the last two games, so it's not like he is still in the midst of his out-of-body experience.
Sorry to say, but Doncic still seems like the safer pick going forward just because of his all-around ability and the fact that he is not a complete liability on the defensive end.
Defense is a huge part of this game. Think about it: imagine if Isaiah Thomas was a few inches taller? How good would we have been during his Boston Celtics prime? But, because he was a small guard, his defensive shortcomings were obvious, and that is what prevented him from ever becoming a truly elite player.
Young definitely isn't a bust. That's for sure. But he also isn't better than Doncic.
We should probably pump the brakes a bit.
