Atlanta Hawks: 5 reasons Trae Young was a bad pick

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3. Young could become a one-dimensional shooter

Trae Young should be a prolific scorer for the Atlanta Hawks. He may be compared to Steph Curry, but he hasn’t already stepped on an NBA court to deserve that high of praise. In fact, while his perimeter shooting could easily rival Curry’s, that could be all Young gains notoriety for.

Among the power five conferences last season, there were 58 players with over 400 field goal attempts and 16 with at least 500 field goal attempts; Trae Young was second in NCAA Division I basketball with 618 attempts, so he has no problem there.

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Young became the focal point of the Sooners’ offense by default, but taking that many shots could mean Young will expect the same once he hits the floor for the Hawks. If he feels he’s forced to create by himself at the NBA level, he could take on a ball-hog label early in his career.

But that isn’t the only concern the Hawks should have about Young when he’s out on the court. Do they expect his small frame to be able to take the abuse of knocking around with bigger bodies in the NBA?

The Ringer described Young as an “average finisher around the rim due to lack of explosiveness and length; he’ll need to become far craftier to score among the trees.” Trae Young had decent shooting percentages all over the floor, but could become one-dimensional in the NBA given his size.

Young is thin and a step smaller than most of the top guards in the league right now and his shot selection from college could push him to even more of a perimeter shooter in the NBA. He hoisted 10.3 3-point field goal attempts per game, over half of the team’s 19.3 attempts per game. His mid-range shot is almost non-existent, so he may naturally evolve into a pure 3-point shooter if he can’t hold his own in the paint in the NBA.

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