2018 NBA Prospect Report Part 2: Trae Young
Playmaking
Statistically, Trae Young’s playmaking numbers jump off the page perhaps even more than his scoring totals or efficiency.
His assist percentage, which measures the amount of his teammates’ made shots on which he assisted while on the floor, is a ridiculous 54.8. His turnover rate has climbed and currently stands at a relatively average 17 percent, but considering his sheer playmaking volume, that number is excellent.
Only three other players in Sports Reference’s database have posted assist percentages greater than 50: Kris Dunn, Jason Brickman and Darrian Ringo. That is not exactly a murderer’s row of point guards. But they all had significantly higher turnover rates and not nearly the scoring output and raw production of Young. Young is an outlier in terms of his raw productivity and efficiency.
He sees the floor like a true elite point guard prospect in both the halfcourt and full court. His downcourt passes are remarkable and he has nice touch on lobs and entry passes down low. He has high conversion rates on passes to roll men, cutters and spot-up shooters out of the pick-and-roll, generating at least 1.07 points per possession on each. He also has an outstanding 4.6 assist-to-turnover ratio in transition.
Young dropped 22 assists against the Northwestern State Demons. He can toss a perfectly-placed lob from 25 feet out while moving across the perimeter.
Speaking of passes on the move from way beyond the perimeter, check out this bounce pass through traffic to a cutter just seconds later.
Curry is the popular comparison, but if we are drawing hyperbolic similarities to future Hall of Famers, there is some Steve Nash in Trae Young’s game too. Watch here as he comes off a ball screen, shows a little shiftiness with a hesitation move, draws two defenders and dishes a no-look pass to the roll man.
His transition playmaking is impressive as well. He does an excellent job identifying when the defense slacks getting back or when his teammates hustle to get into scoring position. In this clip, he threads a bounce pass down court through multiple defenders for the assist.
Here is a bullet right-handed pass from well beyond the halfcourt line:
As opponents have begun to apply more pressure and traps, Young’s turnovers have inevitably increased.
His game against the West Virginia Mountaineers and the NCAA’s best point-of-attack defender, Jevon Carter, was an example of how he tends to lose his composure in these situations. As is the case with most young point guards, he tends to get sped up against tight defense, forcing tough shots, making overly-ambitious plays and losing the ball.
He still managed to score effectively in this game, but his playmaking took a dive.
Young committed eight turnovers and registered only five assists, partially due to West Virginia denying him the ball and forcing it out of his hands. He is not helped by the fact that Oklahoma lacks secondary ball handlers. But he will have to improve his composure in these situations.
Perhaps it should be encouraging that Young was able to score against a defense like West Virginia’s despite having little secondary creation to fall back on and Carter denying him off the ball. With more ball handlers or scorers on the floor, Young may have been able to use West Virginia’s pressure defense against itself, spreading it out and giving his teammates room to create.
If the only way to limit Young (to 29 points) is to use a scheme like this one, he should be fine at the next level because few NBA teams play full-court or trapping defense and he will likely share the floor with more capable shot creators.
Still, his nearly 40 percent turnover rate (per Synergy) in trapping situations raises concerns about his decision-making ability when defenses are keyed in on him.