Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young emerged as one of the top NBA players today with his uncanny ability to get buckets and make plays for his teammates.
When he was selected with the No. 5 pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA Draft, Trae Young was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Luka Doncic. Six years later, Young is a three-time NBA All-Star, an All-Rookie First Team member, and a one-time member of the All-NBA Third Team.
However, Trae Young’s career has somewhat plateaued since leading the Atlanta Hawks to a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21. The Atlanta Hawks have suffered early playoff exits and failed to make the playoffs last season.
This summer, the Atlanta Hawks broke up his partnership with Dejounte Murray, as they traded the former San Antonio Spur to the New Orleans Pelicans. They then used the No. 1 pick to get Zaccharie Risacher from France, hoping to form a one-two punch with Young.
Why did the Atlanta Hawks want to get Trae Young?
Trae Young was often compared to Stephen Curry when he was balling in college. Young, who spoke to Paul George on the Podcast P show, said he never paid too much attention since he didn’t see the similarity.
“That (pressure) really all started in college. We played in the Phil Knight tournament and had a really good showing and then we were on ESPN every day,” Young said. “I swear that’s all they were pushing – ‘The next Steph Curry’. I never paid too much attention to it. I never was like ‘Yeah, I’m about to be the next Steph’.”
“My favorite player was Steve Nash growing up. I’d take pieces from a lot of players. That’s why I feel like me and Steph, we have some similarities but there are some things about our games that are different,” he added.
Young is coming off yet another solid campaign with the Atlanta Hawks, averaging 25.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists, and 1.3 steals in 54 regular season games in 2023-24.
