Atlanta Hawks: 5 reasons Trae Young was a bad pick

4. Trae Young is not Luka Doncic

There’s a lot of appeal to selecting Trae Young. He could be another Stephen Curry. But he could be another one-and-done point guard that lasts just a few years. Luka Doncic has more to offer as an off-ball guard and even played against better competition in the EuroLeague.

Doncic may suffer statistically when compared to Trae Young, but he has four years of international basketball behind him in which he continually improved each season. His scoring improved dramatically from 2016-17 to 2017-18, nearly doubling his points per game. If we look at Doncic’s advanced statistics, he accumulated 20.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals per 36 minutes last season.

Even if Doncic accumulates just 80 percent of his per 36 minutes stats, he would have been in good company last season as only 11 NBA players pushed a per 36 minutes line of 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and one steal, including James Harden, LeBron James and Steph Curry.

Doncic would have brought a lot of intangibles to Atlanta as well, which aren’t necessarily seen in his statistics. The Ringer, in its mock draft analysis, compared Doncic to Tyreke Evans and a bigger bodied Manu Ginobili. His ceiling could even be as high as James Harden. The Ringer continued to praise Doncic’s passing skills and hustle:

"“Transcendent passer: Throws Manu-style overhead whips, accurate cross-court dimes, and no-looks that’ll make highlight reels … Puts perfect velocity and touch on passes, plus has the height to pass over the defense … Excellent rebounder for his position, and he quickly turns boards into transition offense … Competitive, physical defender who hustles, closes out hard, and battles on switches.”"

Trae Young may be a gifted point guard, but the intangibles that Doncic could’ve brought to the team may have been a big mistake to pass on.