Rebuilding Atlanta Hawks drop Detroit on the road; 3 takeaways

1. Trae Young still has growing pains

There is no reason to take away from Trae Young’s incredible season opener as he had a stellar night from the floor. His 38 points came from a variety of places for the Atlanta Hawks. He made 11 of his 21 field goal attempts, including 6-of-10 from beyond the 3-point line.

He even got an extra 10 points from the charity stripe. Young also finished with nine assists, seven rebounds and six turnovers.

Not only was that a big feat within the organization, but Young became just the ninth player in NBA history to tally at least 38 points, six rebounds and six assists in a season-opening game. He hit a 3-pointer while he was still within the Pistons’ logo on the court and put up 26 of his points in the first half, the highest scoring half of his career so far.

There’s no denying Young’s offensive ability. He had a slow start his rookie year, but really came into his own in the second half of the season. This preseason he scored at least 18 points in three of his five games, but it’s the turnovers that may be a concern.

The Hawks knew this going in. With the electricity Young provides, turnovers would happen. He led all of college basketball in scoring in 2017-18, but he also had a high turnover rate.

He only averaged 3.8 turnovers per game last year as a rookie, but that jumped to 4.8 per game this preseason and we saw him turn it over six times in the season opener. Young’s confidence is unwavering though.

This is the yin and yang of Young — Atlanta knows that the bad will come with the good, especially as he grows into just his second year in the league. The hope is that as the Hawks continue to build around him to lessen the blow of the turnovers.

The Hawks will ride and die with Trae Young. The hope is that a few games with a high turnover rate do not cost the team a couple of games and leave them just short of a possible playoff berth. If Young keeps his confidence and continues to grow through the season, the Hawks will be a very exciting team to watch.