Atlanta Hawks: 5 reasons Trae Young was a bad pick
2. Trae Young will struggle defensively
Another reason Trae Young will have to fill out his 6’1″, 178-pound frame as quickly as possible is so he doesn’t get pushed around defensively. The Ringer describes Young as a “low-effort” defender, with the potential to “get feasted on if he switches onto larger players.”
Kyle Boone for CBS Sports broke down some brief video of Trae Young against another top point guard prospect, Collin Sexton, to give some credence to that evaluation.
"“…Sexton, at times, bullied Young on both sides of the floor. Young’s lack of strength was a glaring weakness, and Sexton used that to his advantage by forcing Young out of his comfort zone.”"
Boone used this video below to show how easily Sexton got to the rim with Young defending him.
Oklahoma was able to hide Young, as Kevin Pelton of ESPN describes in his analysis on Trae Young as a defender.
"“[Young] defended just 32 isolations all season that led to a shot, shooting foul or turnover. Young did reasonably well on those plays, holding opponents to .84 points per play, but the challenge will be much greater against NBA players.”"
Young’s defensive advanced stats back up many of his defensive shortcomings. He had a 108.1 defensive rating and was considered an average player with his 0.5 Defensive Box Plus/Minus score. Many scouts are worried about his focus and approach on defense — he’s gifted, but if he can’t handle the defensive pressures of the NBA, he could be run off the court.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report had a similar assessment:
"“He also exerts so much energy on offense that he runs out of gas when trying to contain his man defensively. His effort has been questioned when fighting through picks. Young has enough quickness to be adequate, but that’s his defensive ceiling.”"
After the draft, Young was interviewed at the draft combine, and is at least talking the talk of improving his size and abilities to not get run over in the NBA.
If Young doesn’t improve his defense, as he acknowledged in the clip, adding another defensive liability in the backcourt for the Hawks won’t help their rebuild.