2018 NBA Prospect Report Part 2: Trae Young

Ball handling

Trae Young’s handle is arguably his biggest swing skill in terms of NBA success. Because pull-up jumpers with a low release point make up the plurality of his scoring possessions, his handle and footwork are what will allow or prevent him from getting enough space at the next level.

Clearly, he has had very few issues with that at the college level. He creates an elite 1.195 points per possession in isolation, often taking bigs off the dribble, shooting step-back jumpers and driving inside to shoot runners and floaters.

He relies on his hang dribble to beat bigs off switches and get inside. On the play above, he does exactly that and draws a foul.

Here is where his pull-up shooting is particularly beneficial, as it forces defenders to respect his hesitations, hang dribbles, shot fakes and head fakes, all of which are important parts of his iso game. Most big men are simply not quick enough to position themselves to defend both his shot and drive.

The stop-start ability he displays with his hesitation dribble moves also shows up in his shiftiness inside the arc. He is a crafty ball handler that can put defenders in jail to make his finishing easier.

He is not a legitimate inside scoring threat yet, but he still manages to collapse defenses, kick out to shooters and dump off to bigs. Young needs to build strength before he can unlock his full finishing potential, but his willingness to create contact is a positive indicator. He draws plenty of fouls simply by being willing to get into defenders’ bodies.

In this clip, from a game against the Oregon Ducks in the PK80 tournament, he is attacking a bigger defender off the dribble. He gets into his body but cannot turn the corner, so he pulls back and hits a three.

Here, Young bumps his body into the defense to create space, force a contest and make a dump-off pass for a dunk. Even if it does not always end in a bucket (and it usually does not), for someone his size, his willingness to bang inside with bigger bodies bodes well for his transition into the league. He might not be Marcus Smart in terms of physicality, but he is clearly not contact-averse.

Another important part of his isolation game is his ability to quickly transition from dribble moves into his shot. This comes in stark contrast to his catch-and-shoot style, where his body motion transitioning into his shot is controlled and fluid but slow.

Against the Wichita State Shockers, he had back-to-back offensive possessions where he received a ball screen. The defense hedged both times, but his quick pull-up and deep range made it impossible for his defender to recover in time.

Even though the release is low, there is not much a defense can do when a ball handler makes recovering that difficult by spacing out so far and pulling up so quickly.

In the NBA, Young will face more defenders at the 4 and 5 capable of switching. He will also be unlikely to have an offensive scheme that allows him to hunt matchups with ball screens as often as Oklahoma’s does.

His shot is quick, but it requires more space than most, so he may encounter issues when trying to score against NBA teams prepared to switch or defend at the level of the screen. He will need to continue developing his handle, and improving his first-step burst would go a long way in improving his ability to create separation against longer and more athletic defenders.

That said, even if he cannot consistently get that shot off, simply drawing the defense out as far as he can will open up his team’s offense, and Young is more than capable of taking advantage of that with his playmaking.