110740, He's a Coke Zero Steph. Posted by Frank Longo, Tue Jun-05-18 08:43 PM
He's crafty, a strong passer, terrific handles, and a shot that obviously gets hot in a hurry and has unlimited range. One can see the scenario in which everything goes right for him...
... but his decision-making is oftentimes bad, his shots are often very forced. You say that's part of the team he was on-- that's fair. BUT there are other cons that aren't due to team role. His measurables aren't great-- he's small, not strong, not long, and not especially athletic. He's a bad defender-- the way teams go at Steph? They'll 100% do the same to Trae from Day 1. And it's worth noting that no one anticipated that he'd be a 1-and-done... and he wasn't nearly as effective in the back half of their season when the competition got tougher. He had good games... but he shot 46% from 2 and 32% from 3 in conference.
So you take him lotto, focus on his craftiness/handles/passing, and hope that the shot selection comes along. In that scenario, he's a good starter, maybe even one of those borderline All-Stars if he had a hot month or two... but I'm admittedly a Trae Young skeptic. I think it all depends on whether he's trying to be a star or if he's trying to win. He could be a lower option on a good team... or he could gun on a bad team.
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