There is no doubt that the Atlanta Hawks have found a gem in their point guard of the future, Trae Young. The 20-year-old had a tremendous rookie campaign last year, and is looking forward to an even better sophomore season.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. As we hit the mid-point of the offseason, let’s take a moment to look back at some of the most memorable moments of what will go down in history as one of the most impressive debut seasons by any rookie.

4. Draft Night

Coming in at the fourth spot on our list is Young’s unforgettable evening on the night of June 21, 2018. Coming out as a freshman out of the University of Oklahoma, the 6-foot-2 guard was widely-regarded as one of the top prospects entering the draft.

However, in the weeks leading up to the draft, some experts began questioning some aspects of Young’s game and whether or not he was indeed a franchise-altering prospect. This led to some talk about Young slipping in the draft, so the moment he was selected fifth overall, the pure joy (and relief) on his face was almost palpable.

Interestingly enough, it was actually the Dallas Mavericks who selected him with the fifth pick. However, the Mavs were determined to land Luka Doncic, so they decided to trade Young, along with a 2019 first-round pick (Duke freshman Cam Reddish was later selected with the 10th overall pick) in exchange for the highly-touted Serbian.

For their part, the Hawks appeared to be extremely confident in what Young could bring to the table, as they were willing to part ways with Doncic. One year later, this deal appears to have worked well for both sides, but the trust Atlanta put on Young was definitely a defining moment in his career.

Here’s a look back at Young’s draft night experience.

3. All-Star Weekend

During the All-Star break, Young was able to establish himself as a bona fide up-and-comer in the league.

The youngster took part in the NBA Rising Stars contest as a member of Team USA, who handily defeated Team World, 161-144.

While it was Los Angeles Lakers stud Kyle Kuzma who would bag the game’s MVP trophy, Young definitely did not disappoint, finishing with 25 points (on 9-of-19 shooting), six three-pointers, seven rebounds, 10 assists, a block, and just two turnovers in 24 minutes of action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAszkdxkJzA

Young also made it all the way to the final round of the Skills Challenge, where he would eventually be outdueled by Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.

It was a memorable performance by Young throughout the contest though, with the standout moment being his halfway line heave in the first round to defeat De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn7N7nrvW48

Young may not have been called up for the main event (yet), but surely, he made his mark on the All-Star weekend.

2. Quadruple Overtime Madness

We wouldn’t have done this list justice if we did not include Trae’s mind-boggling performance in an equally breathtaking contest between the Hawks and the Chicago Bulls.

Young and company did end up losing the contest after four overtime periods, but the rookie put forth the best performance of his young career with a career-high 49 points (on 17-of-33 from the field), six treys, eight rebounds, 16 assists, a steal, and a block in 56 minutes of play.

Young did log nine turnovers, though, so this was a bit of a sour patch in an otherwise stellar outing.

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1. The Wild Stretch

At one point in the season, people began questioning if Luka Doncic was actually the runaway leader for the season’s Rookie of the Year award.

Well, the Mavs stud would end up bagging the ROY trophy at the end of the season — by quite a margin (Young only secured two first-place votes versus Luka’s 98) — so in truth, it was never really close. Nonetheless, it was still a pretty crazy two (or three) month stretch for Young who absolutely caught fire.

Young was so hot that he would be awarded as the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for January, February, and March — an amazing stretch where he would give us a preview of how a Trae Young hot streak looks like.

At one point in this run, the sharp-shooting marksman would go on a five-game stretch averaging 31.3 points (on 45.1 percent shooting), 4.3 three-pointers (on a 50.0-percent clip) 3.5 rebounds, and 9.0 assists. Wow.

If there was any doubt that Young is as talented as many experts made him out to be, then his amazing rookie campaign should be more than enough to silence all the doubters.

What’s even more astounding is the fact that he hasn’t even peaked yet, so we should be in store for a bigger, better, and hungrier Trae Young in the years to come.