Trae Young has hit the rookie wall awfully hard. The former University of Oklahoma standout has been asked to put a lot on his plate during his first year in the NBA, and as such, his numbers could stand to get a whole lot better. Young is second on the Atlanta Hawks with 15.7 points per game, but he’s hitting just 37.7 percent of his shots and is connecting at a 23.9 percent clip from three.
There are some encouraging signs, particularly with his passing as he’s averaging 7.3 assists per game, and, as we’ve written about, some things the Hawks can do to help Young get into a groove on the offensive end of the floor. However, if you ask Young’s teammates, it’s simple: he just has to keep shooting.
Young spoke to the media following Atlanta’s 131-117 loss to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, a game in which he scored 14 points on 4-for-13 shooting. He made it clear that while he’s trying to get going, his teammates are encouraging him to shot through his struggles.
“I mean, it’s crazy,” Young said, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. “It’s crazy. My shooting percentage is so bad right now and teams are still pressing up on me just like I was shooting 80 percent.”
Young leads the Hawks in field goal attempts per game, while only Taurean Prince hoists up more threes on a nightly basis. If there is a consolation for Young, it might be that opponents still respect his ability to make shots and catch fire even though he’s in the midst of a lull.
“He’s 23 percent but I treat him like he’s f—— Steph or Dame [Lillard] or whoever’s out there,” Rivers said, according to Buckner. “So I picked him up at half court. That’s why he wasn’t able to get any threes off really. Because of the shots he shoots, even the deep threes, it’s like a momentum builder. Everybody goes crazy because of how deep he shoots it. So it’s like more than three points because if he hits one of those, the crowd starts going crazy.”
Between Young’s teammates wanting him to let it fly and opponents checking him like he’s an elite shooter, it’s clear that everyone agrees that he’s capable of doing some special things on the floor. All that’s left for Young to do now is figure out a way to get shots to fall.
