Way too early All-NBA team predictions for 2023-2024
By Tyler Key
All-NBA Third Team – Trae Young
In what feels like a do-or-die season for Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks, he will have as good a chance as ever to make All-NBA due to the number of elite players who probably won’t hit the minimum game threshold. Young led the NBA in total assists last season with 741, and only the NBA Finals MVP, Nikola Jokic (678 assists), was within 100 assists of catching him.
The one-time All-NBA guard was second in the NBA in APG (10.2), behind just James Harden (10.7 APG). Additionally, Young was 8th in the NBA in PPG (26.2). The Eastern Conference Finals run of 2020–2021 feels longer than three seasons ago, but perhaps John Collins departure will be an addition by subtraction and some of the younger Hawks players can finally pop.
Ideally, the Hawks will need to perform better this season to make this a reality, but both Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made the All-NBA First Team in 2022–2023 with losing records, so it is a possibility even if the Hawks struggle yet again.