A whole lot of people doubted Trae Young at the time of the draft.

He's too small. He's too slow. He's not athletic enough. He won't be able to hit those bombs against pro competition.

Well, here we are, just over a year into his NBA tenure, and the Atlanta Hawks guard has developed into one of the most exciting players in the NBA.

Yes, the Hawks traded Luka Doncic to get him. We all understand that, and Young is probably tired of hearing about it. But it's not like Atlanta didn't get a really good player in return.

Through 20 games this season, Young is averaging 28.2 points, 8.3 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals over 34.5 minutes per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor, 38.5 percent from three-point range and 85.6 percent from the free-throw line.

That's kind of good.

On Wednesday night, Young and the struggling Hawks will take on a Brooklyn Nets team that underwent a major overhaul during the offseason, but based on what we have seen from the Nets thus far, you would never know it.

Kyrie Irving, one of the Nets' two prized summer additions (the other being Kevin Durant, who is out for the season while recovering from a torn Achilles), is set to miss his 10th straight game due to a shoulder injury.

The injury was considered minor at first, but now, Brooklyn doesn't even seem to have a concrete timetable for Irving's return.

Of course, we have already heard about Irving possibly causing some problems in the Nets' locker room, and it is a bit interesting that Brooklyn has actually been playing a bit better without Irving in the lineup.

If Irving really has been somewhat of a distraction (and who knows if that's true), this would mark the third team he has caused trouble with. First it was the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then it was the Boston Celtics. Now, it's the Nets.

That begs the question: is a young star like Young set up for a better career than Irving going forward?

Obviously, it's far too early to tell for sure, especially considering that Irving already has an awesome finals performance under his belt, but Young is probably better than Irving was at the same age, and by all accounts, he is a terrific locker room guy.

Sometimes, it's not all about pure talent. Attitude matters, and, at the very least, that is one area in which Young seems to have an edge over Irving.

So let's say Young continues this level of production (which is very possible) and maintains a great relationship with his teammates in the process. Will he then have a chance to have a more successful career than Irving?

It's really not a crazy question given how terrific Young has been thus far, and he probably hasn't even hit his ceiling yet.

This kid is really, really good and has a very bright future ahead of him.

Again, you really can't make any definitive statements on this type of thing just yet, but based on what we have seen thus far, the idea of Young having a better career than Irving is absolutely not out of the realm of possibility.