Atlanta Hawks: 5 goals for Trae Young’s rookie season

3. Take care of the ball

It’s well documented that Trae Young led the country in both points and assists per game in his only year at Oklahoma. He, unfortunately, also led all of college basketball in total turnovers (167) and turnovers per game (5.2). The turnovers per game also stand out because Young was one of just four players to average over four turnovers per game last year.

The high turnover rate could be due to the fact that Young had a 37.1 usage rate for Oklahoma, which was also tops in the country. Regardless of how much he was used though, Young was still prone to turnovers, especially in the second half of the season.

Over 12 games in November and December 2017, Young turned the ball over 49 times. In 20 games from January through March, he turned the ball over 118 times. Young faced tougher competition over as the calendar flipped from 2017 to 2018 due to getting to conference play, but his turnovers jumped by 50 percent over the same period.

Young will get an upgrade in teammates entering the NBA, but he’s also going to face better defenses too. Jeremy Lin will be backing up Young, so Lin should be able to help coach him through any high-turnover games.

If the preseason is any indication of how Young might take care of the ball, the Hawks should be encouraged with him turning the ball over just 2.2 times per game. It’s not ideal, but it’s far from a horrible average over five preseason games. If he can keep it under control once the regular season hits, the Hawks will reap the rewards.