The Truth About Trae Young

[@nicholaskatsikas4904]

Trae Young is great player but imo if the Young is to be a franchise piece that helps Atlanta win or compete for a championship you need to give a versatile five who can operate both as a roller and poper while also being good enough defensively to protect the backend. Unless Atlanta gets a player like that the Hawks ceiling will always be capped Trae’s issues or issues of the overall team.

[@blablablaa14]

Why you think he begged to go to the Spurs. He knows this but what you're describing is a player better than Trae being second to Trae, and that isn't happening

[@kenny_g3260]

Basically Chet, Embiid, Anthony Davis, maybe Wemby as his shooting improves.

[@janoycresnova9156]

That's what Capela been doing for years for them. Yet they were still a play in team

[@theayejays1444]

@@janoycresnova9156capela is not versatile lol wym

[@FreeRemount]

he need bigger spot up wings to help with his defensive issues like dallas done with luka

[@Frank-hv7xj]

Trae needs a roster like the Magic. A bunch of elite, big defenders, elite co-star in Paolo

[@chez1756]

or like the timberwolves..

[@culo9999]

Yeah, what does the magic need to trade away, though? Probably something like Franz and Suggs.

[@cl5rys]

truth

[@janoycresnova9156]

Paolo isn't elite at anything.

[@matthieusaade3616]

So basically he needs what any player need , a great team 😂

[@TheJellitin]

As a Hawks fan, it is rare to find such nuanced discussion of Trae. Great video!

[@bangs_edit]

Alex never fails lets goo!

[@kaysings9672]

Keep it up man, love your content

[@AlexHoops]

Sincerely appreciate that 🙏

[@TheRealAtrocity]

I hope he has his best season this year

[@HoopsAficionado]

If Trae had an exceptional defensive team around him that could shoot, I think the Hawks could go deep in the playoffs again. They need to have an elite rim protector and good to great wing defenders around Young. It can be done. Brad Stevens managed a great defence around IT.

[@timbertron1]

Great video and analysis. Trae truly is an all time offensive player. His D has improved the last 2 years but still needs more work. Not a fan of the video title, why is it a "problem"? Gives a negative vibe when the video doesn't.

[@MattyOkay]

The Middy shooting touch is there, Trae just couldn't get in rythym because Dejounte(who thrives with the ball in his hands) lived there. He and Trae favor the same scoring spots on the floor. They were super redundant. With DJ in New Orleans, the spacing and Trae's shot diet should improve tremendously.

[@FreeRemount]

i love ur breakdown smart asf mane great iq for ppl who don't know plays and/or actions n it's never boring

[@realdreamerschangetheworld7470]

Love this kind of analysis, thank you 🙏

[@ondrejherceg90]

Alex, thanks for all these videos, they help increasing my basketball knowledge and all-around overview around the league, since I don't have enough time to follow all the teams from all sports I watch. Keep up your brilliant work! ❤

[@strivinghigher7005]

Love the breakdown. Helps me to consider how I play the game too.

[@omarbackfromspace]

Good analysis as always. I also like the lofi background music u used

[@darren806]

Alex, I'm a recent subscriber and loving your vids, please keep this up, learning so much about NBA through you

[@AlexHoops]

Absolutely love to hear it, welcome aboard! 🤝

[@JordanGurney]

Not an off-ball assassin... So much for those comparisons to Steph 😂

[@El_Kiki_SF]

Alex can you make a video about positions? with all these offseason tier lists and the way the league is evolving im confused at this point what they mean. ie when you compare booker to ant, whats it based on? size? cause they seem like very different players to me. Mybe you should make tier lists based on roles rather than positions too

[@chasewheeler5430]

Ppl act like Iverson was good at defense or Shaq could shoot😂 Rare that a player is great in every single aspect of the game

[@allenivy4504]

Alex I am your biggest fan and first time being first😂🎉

[@chrisclunan5097]

I think he is an elite second option. He would pair well with a player like Giannis who he can do pnr with and they can both also get buckets. Absolute nightmare for the defense which opens things up for shooters

[@leplay7961]

Na alex going crazy with the research

[@4ktkaram395]

At only 25 trae Young is already one of the greatest offensive engines of all time. If you surround him with a defensive minded team with long wings (pause) you can win a championship because he’s that brilliant offensively.

[@anthonybrown1830]

He’s undersized and historically you can’t win with a short player as the number 1. He’d be a great number 2. If he played on a team like the Spurs with Wemby it’d be deadly

[@augustdreier6595]

@@anthonybrown1830 i mean the warriors won a decent amount with a short player

[@dmking26]

Yeah…..if you ignore his horrible efficiency.

[@janoycresnova9156]

He's an undersized chucker on average efficiency

[@LASAGNA_LARRY]

@@augustdreier6595Steph is the greatest shooter of all time and also taller than Trae. Trae is great, but he is not even worthy of comparison to Steph.

[@tbonn17]

the floater percentage is wild

[@frantisekbulbulbul884]

He kinda has to be a number one option because with his heliocentric style it is tough to make him be a number two option anywhere in the league.

[@Martyrdomer]

Funnily enough he wouldn’t be so heliocentric if he had a significant jump on his off ball movement like Steph Curry

[@DeloFFF]

Can you explain what being “heliocentric” in the nba means please

[@urbaindelva7869]

​@DeloFFF Heliocentric basically means one player being the offensive engine of a team's system, i.e. Luka, LeBron, Harden in Houston. Their team's offense basically runs/ran through them alone.

[@colton6742]

Fair but we've also never seen him even try to take on that role who's to say how he would fit into it

[@bigbangbasketball]

Surround Trae with solid 3 & D guys and they’ll be successful

[@Cc3430-cj3ye]

Trae have a pretty good court vision for people his size, but his size is also his weakness, playoff is about exposing the other team's weakness so he is gonna be teams target

[@lubbers825]

Hey Alex, probably a longshot for you to see this, but where is the best free source to see these advanced NBA metrics. I'm trying to understand the game from a deeper level but always struggle finding what I need. Thanks.

[@AlexHoops]

Hey man, unfortunately, there’s not a ton of free sources out there for advanced metrics. You can check out dunksandthrees.com for some of their free stuff, also think cleaningtheglass has some free tools as well. Bball-index also has some free stuff I believe!

[@sperohero]

He's kinda like Tony Parker but he has no Manu or duncan.

[@paulbunyan9436]

Trae needs to gain 20 pounds of solid muscle to get stronger. 164 lbs ain't gonna cut it.

[@jaydot4956]

Adding muscle does nothing for Trae, he’s still going to be 5’11.

[@zay_tiggygaming]

​@@jaydot4956he's 6'1

[@xbackwitit2899]

Wym he's a solid 195

[@chaike9001]

He needs a good #2 option SG that’s comfortable just scoring if he was on the Wolves no one would even question him. There’s plenty of teams that would love a good scoring playmaker

[@bigboi3512]

There is no more to trade him....until some team has some big shake up or the offseason

[@ea.lowkey]

Watchin wemby get trae on spurs is really interesting... chris paul is also good comparison small guard likes to go to rim off screens shoot tough shots more fadeways than range though i wonder if his defensive scheme will make enough sense for him to shoot at the top of key so often

[@marcogomez2736]

He is, of course. We need understanding that each players has strengths and weaknesses. As a score, and as a PG, he is one of the best. You want defense? Then build around him with good defensive players.

[@benwatson4460]

The question is if he is good enough to be the number one option on a championship team

[@BIGGIECHEESE31]

@@benwatson4460 He aint worse then Brunson. One has the perfect team around him, the other one doesnt

[@marcogomez2736]

@@benwatson4460 he's pretty much the same model than Curry is, maybe a little worst on defense, but a better passer. He already beat the NY Knicks. He for sure is a player to build around

[@CarnagexSena]

​@@benwatson4460He's not a number 1 option on a championship team. He's the perfect 2nd option. He's arguably the best playmaker in the league. Imo the 2nd best pnr player in the league only behind Luka. Him and Tyrese Haliburton are the perfect 2nd options on a championship team.

[@benwatson4460]

@@CarnagexSena They need to have the ball wayyy to much to be effective for them to be a second option

[@nkululekogoodhope7044]

We still need content of players we don't know.

[@PTrey]

Do you think that with improved strength and conditioning he can get close to a net neutral defender and off ball threat? I feel that apart from his size limitations the lack of motor in these areas is likely due to using so much energy as a primary option. Contrast this to a TJ McConnell motor which is needed as an undersized guard. It annoys me every time he makes a good pass but does not sprint to relocate which would lead to at least a couple of good catch and shoot looks per game (a Steph signature).

[@cl5rys]

trae is an offensive floor elevator with bad 3 level defense that could be mitigated if he puts on muscle like kyrie, his offense is excellent for career size with room to grow in terms of consistency volume and effeciency, trae is worth building around if done right with hopes off him working on his defense as he furthers his career, dont sleep on him people if his cards end up in his favor hell end up an elite second option championship caliber even if paired with a big like a paolo or zion with 2 way spot ups like klay and perimeter guarders like a alex caruso who is a good role player that can help with traes weakness of defense, it doesnt take an einstein of a GM with Coach to make trae young a valuable piece, the current GMs in the east just cant invest for shit anymore, always fixated superteams and not coherent dynasties always the short term and not the long, dynastys dont come from a bunch of elite superstars like the heats superteams and GMs/coaches in the east need to realize that, especially when they have a young 2 star driven dynasty being made real time in the league okc thunder is just a conference away, traes problems are fixable hes not injruy prone hes not low in stamina or a bad teammate he has horrid defense and some blemishes in his offense (off ball movement) which is literally manageabke with commitment and time, I really wished trae joined the magic so he could show how vlauble he could really be put simply far too much people view traes value in reference to superteams and not a real structured team that benefits 1-2 stars, traes problems are manageable and could be fixed or mitigated, his solution is simple, pair him with klay (2 way spot up) and a paolo/zion add in a alex caruso kind of guard defender (dyson daniels is a worse version but he paints the picture) and thats mostly it, his potential as a co star is too good for everyone to think in this rigid superteam way of him

[@dimelo58]

It’s hard to win with small guards .

[@ericflanders9442]

Hot take: current rules massively advantage skilled players like Trae, whose passing and shooting look better than they would be without the inevitable drop coverage, pick and roll lobs, step back 3s etc. This results in gaudy scoring and assist numbers that hugely inflate player value, leading to players being "franchised" out of all proportion to their real potential to win championships. So many teams are asking similar questions, i.e. can we win in the postseason with an offense built around a ball dominant iso playmaker?

[@saitez7668]

Trae Young just need to be efficient again and need a better Team.. They are just not good enough

[@chozenboi]

Need him on the Spurs

[@pauljaimepanis8362]

I do think the team has to build a defensive mindset. I mean Luka was a below ave to mid defender but their defense was good due to the pieces around him. We can't blame everything to trae when he always deliver what is always expected from him. And defense is not part of that mostly.

[@kingslayer3796]

Show me the last NBA champion built around a 6ft volume scorer that's the biggest defensive liability in the league? I'll wait.

[@thekidlivesnow]

The hawks will either need a very elite supporting class or Trae need to go some where that has a better onball player than him. He’s so good with the ball in his hands but he needs a team that really boosts his creation while hiding his weakness, similar to the 2021 team.

[@bigowiththejam4333]

I can't see the Hawks not giving Trae an extension next offseason.

[@martintxo14]

Atlanta needs to build a team like NY, Wolves, Orlando or Okc

[@bpurkapi]

PHX woulda been better off getting Trae than Beal. Wouldn't be perfect but better upside than the move they made.

[@darkvader2024]

the Luka Doncic pull up 3 needs to be analysed 5:08

[@Quinn91202]

He needs a big man with long shooting ability who can run the pick and roll or pop.

[@williamblake7386]

Wemby+Trae+3 Kwahi-Jrue type of guys. Contender. Not enough resources for this tho.

[@cl5rys]

this season will show, what trae needed wasnt a co star guard with high usage what he needed was a 4 whos game could not just get multiple times better but exponetially better through traes 3 level playmaking, to accomplish this 2 options at the arch is ideal trae the onball shooter and a 2 way spot up that relieves paint presence through gravity (imagine a prime klay) for mid range a 22 trae would work where his efficiency was excellent, the reason I dont think his efficiency would drop again is because his co star wouldnt be a guard like djm, when djm is on the floor is very obviously took away from traes game but I think it actually took apart from his mid range, put simply djm usage resulted in trae taking being more of an off ball to mid range shooter which everyoen knows mid range coming from off ball is only as good as the playmaking of the guy with the ball and their gravity that gets u better looks, trae wouldnt have this with a co star guard like a paolo or zion, then the 2nd mid range shooter could be a role playing guard whos main purpose is perimeter defense to offset traes problems there think alex caruso or for right now dyson daniels you could even add in the hypothetical co star themself like paolo or zion or whatver 4 you choose, then of course the 2 paint finishers would be trae with his calculated layups/floaters and that co star 4, its a simple structure that makes everyones offensive game so much better that it lets trae actually worry about his problems of defense and actually work on them if that time came, the hawks jumped the gun adding a high usage player before giving trae a coherent structure, if they got him what I listed off then that 4 like paolo or zion ramped up usage trae would have time to actually improve that portion of his game instead of refining the easier elements, this wouldve ended up in him taking less mid range from off ball to more 3s off ball which is a far better option, hes not injury prone hes not a bad teammate hes a high value star with a tangible problem his size and defense and off ball decison making, to clarify his off ball decision making is not his fault off ball game is only as good as the effectiveness in your options trae, there is no elite playmaker on ball that couldve made use of trae last year in the hawks roster so to put him in that scenario was dumb it led to his mid range being worse because he had bad looks, this is the only thing I could ask from a traditional 4 thats different, just decent enough playmaking that could actually make use of a hypothteical offball trae looking for a 3 similiar to curry and draymond but not in terms of that volume, its too bad no GM or coach wants to invest in him anyone with a brain couldve made use of him especially the magic and pelicans

[@MartinThePolarBear]

5:11 Christ, Luka

[@jrangputang7713]

1 minute no view AlexHoops fell off confirmed

[@AlexHoops]

I’m washed

[@CinHalCedHerChance]

?

[@urbaindelva7869]

I'm not gonna say that the Hawks' front office has done a great job building around Trae, but I also don't think they've done as bad of a job as a lot of people think. They've put some very solid pieces around him-including Dejounte Murray-and the coaching has been respectable (McMillan, Snyder), but that still has not been enough to elevate them. An argument can be made that better players than Trae, especially at his position, would be able to go further with the rosters that he has had. Also, there is also the belief that Trae's ego is a huge problem for the team, and there have been instances that have given credence to that belief.

[@MorningSovi]

I think Trae would be a great 2nd option

[@matthieusaade3616]

The same thing he said about this rookie class is also applicable to himself.

[@yosquiggly]

Epic

[@DavidVega-tc8hi]

Trae was always meant to play with someone like AD

[@cryingfish2488]

I love Trae for his "shhh" gesture to the new york crowd that was cussing him out. He's a favorite personality of mine. But no, he needs to be so much more in order to be THAT GUY you build around. Not saying he can't be a piece to the puzzle though. It's just so hard to hide his glaring weaknesses, hope he finds his role.

[@shorewall]

I think the Lakers would be as good or better with him instead of Lebron.

[@jaydot4956]

@@shorewall🧢

[@davicito3702]

They aren’t gonna trade him but they’ll overpay like crazy and screw theirselves.

[@kjjr3270]

I don't think Trae as a number 2 option is gonna work anywhere. His playstyle won't allow him to do that.

[@reyjgonzales2130]

It's good that you're back with this thumbnail template.

[@berserkmonk5331]

Best case scenario for Trae is to send him to San Antonio 😂 He needs a 7'4 versatile monster that can more than make up all the defensive flaws Trae has lol.

[@BakiSmaki27]

Should have blown it up and traded him. He's already significantly into his career. It's not going to work in Atlanta.

[@kedrprao]

I think Orlando magic should trade for Trae Young. How about Cole Anthony, Anthony Black, Wendell Carter and 3 firsts for Trae.

[@CarlisleSimanson]

Not enough to be a franchise player. A geat scorer but we already saw players with generational offensive skills but failed miserably.

[@moralstk2295]

I think that trae might be the equivalent on offense to goberts defense. So good on one end but could be so detrimental on the other

[@kjjr3270]

I see your vision, but this comparison doesnt make much sense

[@redman6790]

@@kjjr3270why doesn't it? It actually is a pretty great comp imo

[@LASAGNA_LARRY]

@@redman6790It’s a good comparison, but Rudy is a DPOY on Defense. Trae’s Offense is great, but he isn’t the best Offense in the entire league. Trae is basically discount Luka on Offense.

[@janoycresnova9156]

The thing is he is not that good on offense. He's very average, just has a huge volume and touches.

[@bigbangbasketball]

I bet trae would rather be in Dallas atp 😭

[@andredornelles8014]

If the Hawks manage to draft a prime Kwahi, Tim Duncan and Michael Jordan in the second round of the next 3 draft classes, sure of course Trae is still good enough to build around.

[@johnofmalta]

Lolz. Timmy, Kwahi and MJ will be looking at each other saying, “Why we deferring to this little guy?”

[@janoycresnova9156]

Who tf is Kwahi?

[@LASAGNA_LARRY]

@@johnofmaltathat’s the joke……. Jesus Christ you guys got whooshed hard.

[@connor_phillipz5689]

Trae is at best a #2. The Hawks need to move on sooner rather than later if they dont want to become the Bulls. It still makes me laugh that Hawks fans wanted to pretend he was as good as Luka.

[@lilalpharucker963]

If u gon be a Trae hater atleast make it not so obvious.. before this season Trae led his team to a cf juss like Luka only difference is Luka owner has built around him better

[@urbaindelva7869]

​​@@lilalpharucker963That, and because Luka is an overall better and more impactful player than Trae.

[@janoycresnova9156]

​​@@lilalpharucker963the east was piss poor that year and it was a complete fluke run. He never came close to it. Luka was in the finals last year. Look at the teams he beat. Night and day.

[@truthnotfeelings]

.5% above league average ts% is not good enough. Especially for a player whose a negative on defence and high turnover

[@acctsys]

Trae is too expensive, but Denver I think would be better having him than Westbrook.

[@natelavallee4034]

Bro you and I could play better defense in the league. Trey young is undersized and not very athletic. Bro is 165 pounds and 6 feet tall he’s a 2000s Isiah Thomas era point guard

[@jimmywalker8354]

Mice Trae is not a franchise player. He is at best a number 2 option but he lacks the off-ball, given that he is a ballhog.

[@shorewall]

I think the Lakers would be as good or better with Trae Young instead of Lebron.

[@w00t777]

trey was never a nunber 1 for a championship team

[@Ejohns1004]

The problem with Trey Young is not, was not, and never has been his ability or lack there of. The problem is his attitude.

[@lukatosic09]

Explain

[@jolo2380]

Get him to the magic! I think he will be a great nr 2 too banchero.

[@AlexHoops]

That would be an insanely fun team

[@jolo2380]

@@AlexHoopsGreat content bro! I learn so much about basketball from watching your channel. Love from Norway🇳🇴

[@janoycresnova9156]

You're not winning anything other than the lotto, with Young and Banchero as your two main guys.

[@WarDale]

6"8😂😂😂

[@mohammadsohel8624]

All offense

[@MrDiscocow]

Trae is definitely staying in Atlanta as the #1 guy, I think you're missing out on some of his defensive improvements. He's never going to be an average level defender due to his size but this season he has showed a lot more grit and energy on defense. I would also be interested to see how much of his rim attempts lead to FTs, he is a superb free throw shooter and I feel some of his drives are just to generate more FTs. 2 points is 2 points at the end of the day

[@AlexHoops]

I think he definitely showed improvement in overall effort, but I’m generally still extremely underwhelmed by his off-ball defense, and regardless of his effort on ball, he’s an undersized guard. There’s only so much he can realistically do even if he did show marginal improvement, which I personally believe he did.

[@tarunkumar-lk6rg]

I think they should just play it out till trade deadline, then trade for Brandon Ingram, dump Hunter & Capela contract and also trade bufkins & Dyson. Now you have huge cap space, re-sign both Jalen (125M/5Y) & Ingram (160M/4Y). Now for next offseason sign Schröder, Nance for minimum contact. They will still have MLE go get guys like Bruce Brown. So your roaster is more like Trae, Bogdan, Ingram, Jalen, Onyeka Schröder, Brown, Risacher, Nance, Zeller Gueye, Krejc, two first rounds pick they have If everything goes good this team have good shot in winning 🏆

[@boibng7861]

bUMP

[@svego702]

Trae is 2nd unit scorer in contender level team. Stop the cope

[@JP-cc6yn]

I don't watch enough of Trey Young. What is it that makes him a bad defender? Is it effort or IQ?

[@AlexHoops]

I actually think his effort isn’t terrible, I’ve seen far worse effort from players that don’t have his size limitations, but he’s truthfully pretty terrible off-ball. He gets back-cut a lot because he gets caught ball watching, his recovery if he helps off of a shooter isn’t great, and he can miss rotations pretty frequently.

[@joshkatsikis9138]

Trae Young isn't someone you build around, he's a great player but he's not someone you base your roster around. The Hawks need a better number 1 option to Trae next to.

[@janoycresnova9156]

He's an undersized chucker that plays no defense. You can't build around someone like that.

[@chaike9001]

Good thing you’re not a GM

[@mrvxg4820]

Trae has an Atlanta Hawks problem. This poorly ran franchise is killing his reputation. His agent needs to get him out of there.

[@soupmoose2529]

That playoff run was a fluke, should be treated as such

[@marceloasensiofilho3833]

I remmember when people used to say the hawks had not been fleeced in the Luka-Trae trade. I always said Luka is way better, it feels very good to say "I told you so"

[@ScottySkilz1]

Trae is most over rated player in NBA. if he could bulk up, defend better and if he can hit his 3's with more consistency he could be lethal. ie like a Haliburton

[@zay_tiggygaming]

Trae did for six years what Hali did for 6 months.

[@Anonymint-vj7bt]

If you can not play defense, you should not be in the NBA. Trae is trash. Come on, with 8 billion people on the planet, surely NBA teams can elite players who can play both offense and defense at the elite level.

[@igloomoron7839]

Stats are cool but stats don’t tell the whole story