Thaddeus Young: Finally On A Good Team, Will He Step Up?

Now that Thaddeus Young is playing for the Indiana Pacers, who I expect to contend in the East, we will finally see how well he produces in elite company.

I want to start this article by saying that I love Thaddeus Young as a player. He has toiled away on average teams that have either missed the playoffs or been knocked out in the first round without making any noise.

The only exception to this was the 2011-12 Philadelphia 76ers, who made it into the second round of the playoffs.

Now that Young has been traded to the Indiana Pacers, he has a chance to establish his credentials as a good player on a good team. It will be a nice change for Young, considering the teams that he has played on in the past.

Philadelphia 76ers

Young was taken by the 76ers in the 2007 NBA draft with pick No. 12. He was named to the All-Rookie Second Team, averaging 21.0 minutes, 8.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per night.

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From there, Young only got better, never averaging less than12.7 points per game for the rest of the six and a half seasons he spent with Philadelphia. He also never averaged less than five rebounds per game in the same period.

In fact, Young produced really solid numbers, averaging 30.1 minutes, 13.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

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In the six full seasons that Young played with Philadelphia, they made it to the playoffs four times, losing in the first round three times and the second round once.

Philadelphia were an average team, nothing more than that, they were not a team that were ever going to do anything serious in the playoffs.

The question mark that I have over Young at this time is the only time that Philadelphia went to the second round of the playoffs in this period, Young did not produce as much.

In 2011-12, Young averaged 27.9 minutes, 12.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In the playoffs he averaged 21.3 minutes, 7.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

His field goal percentage went from 50.7 percent to 42.9 percent. The drop off is concerning. It was his fifth year in the NBA and he had played three first-round playoff series in that time.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Young was involved in a three-team mega trade in 2014. The relevant details of the trade were that the Cleveland Cavaliers got Kevin Love, the Minnesota Timberwolves got Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and Young. The Philadelphia 76ers got Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved.

On the second team of his career, Young showed that he was a quality player. He played 48 games, cementing his role as a starter in the league that he earned with Philadelphia.

Young played 48 games, averaging 33.4 minutes, 14.3 points and 5.1 rebounds on a team that was going nowhere. The Timberwolves did not make the playoffs, but Young would not see the season end with Minnesota.

The Timberwolves wanted their prodigal son, Kevin Garnett to come home. They traded Young to the Brooklyn Nets to get him back.

Brooklyn Nets

Fortunately for Thaddeus Young, the Brooklyn Nets made the playoffs in  his first year, 2014-15. Unfortunately, Young did not perform as well in the playoffs as he did in the regular season.

In the 28 regular-season games, Young averaged 29.6 minutes, 5.9 rebounds and 13.8 points. In Brooklyn’s first-round loss, Young averaged 31.7 minutes, 7.2 rebounds and 10.5 points.

Again his field goal percentage dropped from 49.5 percent to 43.9 percent. Unfortunately I can see a pattern forming. I can see that Young is a solid contributor, night in, night out. Unfortunately, solid does not cut it in the April to June period in the NBA.

After one more season with the Nets, Young was again traded. This time he was traded for Caris Lavert, an unproven rookie. Fortunately for Young he was traded to a potential contender in the Indiana Pacers.

Indiana Pacers

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How this season pans out for Young and the Pacers is something that I will will be watching with an intensity usually reserved for when I watch my own team. Paul George, the team leader is now able to go back to his natural small forward position with the addition of Young.

Add to this pair Jeff Teague at point guard, Monta Ellis at shooting guard and Al Jefferson at center, you have a good starting five. The bench of Myles Turner, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles and some reasonable role players and Indiana have a team to challenge in the East.

This should see them have at least two Playoff series, maybe three depending on how the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers seasons go.

This leads to the biggest Pacer question for me this year. Will we see the best of Thaddeus Young in the playoffs or will he go missing? He has six months to play before we will know.

My hope? We see the best of Thaddeus Young in the playoffs. He has toiled away too long on lower echelon teams and the Pacers have been too starved of success.

Must Read: Indiana Pacers 2016-17 Season Outlook

Who is up for an Indiana Pacers versus the Los Angeles Clippers series to decide the championship this year?