Hawks’ Plan for Trae Young: The NBA’s Best Kept Secret
Imagine you’re one of the most electric offensive guards in all of basketball and your main offseason goal is apparently to make sure he’s nowhere near the ball or the opponent’s best player when it matters most. Welcome to the Atlanta Hawks off season where the moves look shiny on paper, but when you connect the dots, you get a team designed to hide Trey Young at the most important moments of the game. Let’s dive into it. The Hawks made defense a priority this off season. First training for Christophs Porzingis, their new room protector and underratedly one of the better defenders in the NBA, ranking in the top 30 in the league according to Crafted NBA’s defensive metrics. Next was signing Nikquil Alexander Walker, a 6’5 guard with a 6’9 wingspan who’s impressed over the last two seasons with his high intensity and defensive acumen. He’s taken on the opposing team’s toughest guard and many of the last few series that he played in with Minnesota. Add them to Dyson Daniels, the Great Barrier Thief, who’s coming off his first alldefensive first team most improved player and leading the league in seals. Zachary Ricochet, last year’s number one overall pick. At 68, he’s turned into an excellent 3 and D wing for them. Jaylen Johnson, who was dealing with injuries towards the end of the year, ranked in the top 50 in defensive rating according to crafted NBA’s defensive metrics. Asa Noel, their newest draft pick, known for his defensive versatility on Yako Kongu. The list just keeps going on and on. It’s very likely that at the end of the game we may see a roster of Dyson Daniels, Zachary Ricochet, Jaylen Johnson, Christoph Scorzingis, and Aquil Alexander Walker to make sure that Trey Young is nowhere near the floor. But just how bad is Trey in this area of the game? Trey’s defensive box plus minus was minus 2.7. What does that mean? He was literally the worst rated defender in the entire NBA. He is the definition of a terrible defender. I think Trey Young has always been a thing. He’s too small to switch and teams relentlessly hunt him in pick and rolls. At this point, the Hawks defensive strategy is basically cross your fingers and hope the other team misses. The issue is offensively he led the NBA in points accounted for between his scoring and assists. Now, with all the defensive help that they’ve brought on, Trey may never even see the floor at the end of the game. What do you think? Is this a brilliant strategy to finally unlock the Hawks full potential, or is it an issue that you need to game plan so much to hide your franchise player? If you’re a Hawks fan, drop a comment with your confidence level. And if you’re rooting for another team, let us know how many points you expect to score entree this year.
The Hawks have received top letter grades for their offseason moves, adding Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and more to the roster. Many of their additions have focused on defense, while their franchise player, Trae Young, has continued to show his ineptitude as a NBA defender. In this video, we dive into the defensive capabilities of the Atlanta Hawks roster and whether the team is exploring ways to take him out of the lineup in the biggest moments.
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