Some people doubt whether the rise of Oklahoma’s Trae Young portends a prolific future in the NBA. But at least a handful of scouts from the Association aren’t among them.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman spoke with a few scouts about the 6’2″ point guard’s upcoming draft stock, and one common theme emerged—they all believe Young is for real, and at least one believes he’s a a top-10, maybe top-seven, pick:
“His production speaks for itself. No need to overthink,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “He leads the nation in scoring and assists while being game-planned for by every opponent. His skills and vision make up for average athleticism.”
“The spacing of the NBA, his shooting and passing, I think he’s going to be good,” a scout from the West said. “He has that mentality, too. He legitimately wants to be good. He isn’t fake.” . . .
“To me, he’s a top-10 pick, and I think when you get to the No. 7-10 range, he’s one of the only guys who has star potential,” a third scouted added.
Not everyone else is sold on Young—at least not to this extent. They keep coming back to his size, at 6’2″, and the release point on his jumper, both of which are fair talking points.
And yet, we shouldn’t be overcomplicating this: Young is averaging more than 29 points and 10 assists per game. I don’t care how undersized you are, that doesn’t happen by chance or exhaustive design.
Maybe Young will be a defensive liability for his entire career. Maybe his 38.9 percent three-point clip—on 9.9 attempts per game, mind you—won’t translate to the pros. Maybe he’s not a future star. That’s all possible. But to write him off now, on a more comprehensive basis, feels absolutely foolish.
Provided he keeps this up, Young has done more than enough to curry favor inside the top 10, maybe top seven. And whichever team who takes him can do so without regret, regardless of how his career pans out.
