I’m Somehow Talking Myself Into Trae Young And The Rumors Are Swirling

We are quickly approaching draft night in the NBA which means I have reached my data limit for the month watching YouTube scouting videos. My eyes are bloodshot, my family group text is a war zone because I ran up our data charges, and I’ve memorized wing spans like they are my social security number. I have become basketball highlight fatigued to the point that yes, I’ll say it…*sigh*…I’m intrigued by Trae Young

You know in school when you are working on a math problem and you get a number that does not match any answer on the test, so you just pick the one closest to what you got? That’s what I did with Trae Young. I couldn’t figure out the right pick at 10 for the Sixers so I settled with, “Eh, Trae Young seems like a fit that could work”.

In his brief stint at Oklahoma, I was not impressed with the hype machine that rolled through Norman. Young was that kid in AAU who pulled from anywhere because scouts were courtside, while you stood on a wing and watched him shoot 2-11 with 4 turnovers in a half. But, after going back and watching film and reading scouting reports, I began to become intrigued with another possible role for the star guard.

At Oklahoma, Trae Young was ball dominant to a fault, he turned it over a good deal, and he took wild shots. Well, Ben Simmons exists so don’t expect Trae Young to be the predominant ball handler in Philadelphia. More so, he would thrive in moving around off the ball, coming off screens and catching on the wing. A lot of times, despite Steph Curry being the point guard, the Warriors set up their offense with someone other than Steph bringing the ball up the court, so they can run Curry off screens. Sidenote: I can’t wait for the only thing people take from this article to be that I compared Trae Young to Steph Curry. My REAL point being, if decision making is a major question mark with this kid, take the decision making out of his hands, give that responsibility to Ben and let this kid open up the floor on the wings.

Another big pro with Trae Young that I gathered from my 387th DraftExpress video is how some of his offensive tools match up to a T with Brett Brown’s style:

“Young is one of the best passers in the draft. He’s unselfish in the open floor, with quick hit aheads, finding shooters and rim runners. He delivers on the money…with better athletes in the NBA his game should pop even more in transition. In the half-court, he’s outstanding in pick and roll, he plays with great pace and hits the roll man with regularity.”

Brett Brown is in his vinegar strokes. Is there a more perfect description for a player that would thrive in the Sixers offense? If Trae Young were to end up in Chicago or New York, I would be concerned he wouldn’t utilize his skill set effectively. Bring him to Philadelphia and watch him ball out.

Part of me, the mentally exhausted part, is growing concerned that both Mikal Bridges and Kevin Knox will be off the board by the tenth overall pick. Both guys, Knox especially, seem to be skyrocketing up draft boards like that time in Jackass where they put Steve-O in a sling shot Porta Potty. I know those are the two names most associated with the Sixers, but they may never make it to the Sixers. So, if Trae Young is the last girl at the bar at 2am, I’m shooting my shot. No pun intended.

By Aidan Powers | June 19, 2018