Atlanta Hawks: 5 reasons Trae Young was a bad pick
5. Trae Young is turnover-prone
It is no secret that Trae Young led NCAA Division I basketball in turnovers last year with 167 — 24 more than the next-closest player. Young wasn’t great with turnovers in the pick-and-roll either:
Trae Young, who I LURRRRRVEEEEE as a prospect, had a 27% turnover rate on passes out of the pick and roll. I love his passing, but that number stands out.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) June 18, 2018
Young having trouble in pick-and-roll play could spell trouble given how the Hawks drafted to be the Golden State Warriors of the Eastern Conference. The 167 total turnovers would’ve ranked third for the Atlanta Hawks last season, just ahead of Kent Bazemore’s 157, but behind Dennis Schroder’s 183 turnovers … despite Young playing in about 30 fewer games.
Based on per 36 minutes numbers, Bazemore and Schroder had 3.2 turnovers each, but Young had 5.3 turnovers per 36.
Trae Young did have a high Usage Rate while in Oklahoma, so a high amount of turnovers can be stomached with outstanding performances, but that wasn’t always the case. Seth Greenburg broke down one his worst games against Kansas State this past January:
As you can see, Young is still scrutinized when forcing passes and can be easily frustrated by double-teams. If he can’t shake that habit in the NBA, tougher defenses will overwhelm him very quickly.