Trae Young or Luka Doncic

[commitcrimes]

ROOKIE YEAR:

Luka Doncic

Season totals: 72 GP 21.2 PPG 7.8 RPG 6.0 APG 42.7 FG% 32.7 3P% 3.4 TO 19.6 PER

Pre-ASG: 55 GP 20.7 PPG 7.2 RPG 5.6 APG 43 FG% 34.8 3P% 3.2 TO

Post-ASG: 17 GP 22.7 PPG 9.9 RPG 7.2 APG 41.7 FG% 26.4 3P% 41. TO

Trae Young

Season totals: 81 PG 19.1 PPG 3.7 RPG 8.1 APG 41.8 FG% 32.4 3P% 3.8 TO 17.0 PER

Pre-ASG: 58 GP 16.9 PPG 3.3 RPG 7.6 APG 40.6 FG% 31.2 3P% 3.9 TO

Post-ASG: 23 GP 24.7 PPG 4.7 RPG 9.2 APG 44.2 FG% 34.8 3P% 3.4 TO

Two franchise changing draft picks traded for each other last year. You know the drill. State your allegiance. Choose wisely.

 

[Vega-0021]

The guy who isn't the absolute worst defender in the league.

Doncic, and it's honestly not even close.

 

[andrew342678]

The one who beat the other in every statistical category but one. Lol

 

[commitcrimes]

The one who beat the other in every statistical category but one. Lol

Maybe i should clarify. Who will have the better career not who had the better rookie season. which was still Trae, but i digress.

 

[Sandman822]

Imagine actually thinking Trae had the better rookie season when he was ass for 4 months of it.

 

[jyu467]

Luka

 

[Anghellic11]

The guy who isn't the absolute worst defender in the league.

Doncic, and it's honestly not even close.

I think I'd rather have trae to be honest. It's a toss up right now for me though. We might look back and have this be laugh worthy in a few years like the kat vs ad question

 

[Vega-0021]

I think I'd rather have trae to be honest. It's a toss up right now for me though. We might look back and have this be laugh worthy in a few years like the kat vs ad question

lol

 

[Anghellic11]

I think I'd rather have trae to be honest. It's a toss up right now for me though. We might look back and have this be laugh worthy in a few years like the kat vs ad question

lol

If you value curry as high as I do it would be stupid to say lol to trae this early.

Trae can bring depth to an offense even somebody as versatile as luka can only dream of.

You are saying you know for a fact he wont?

 

[commitcrimes]

Imagine actually thinking Trae had the better rookie season when he was ass for 4 months of it.

He was “ass for 4 months” and still neck and neck statistically with the fatass golden boy everybody has crowned lol.

Guy averaged 19 and 8 across 81 games, and 24 and 9 over the last 2 months as a 19 year old rookie and people think he’s ass lmao.


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[swrowe]

Fluka Dogshit is overrated. It took awhile for Trae to get in the swing of things but he will be the better player. Mark my words.

 

[Vega-0021]

If you value curry as high as I do it would be stupid to say lol to trae this early.

Trae can bring depth to an offense even somebody as versatile as luka can only dream of.

You are saying you know for a fact he wont?

I do not think Trae will ever come close to Steph's value, and they're not really that similar as players.

We also going to ignore that Trae is statistically the worst defender in that league and he's most likely going to be hopeless on that end for the rest of his career?

Even if they rate out as equals on offense, which I don't think is out of the question, the gap defensively is huge. And Luka's not even good on D.

 

[commitcrimes]

Trae will likely never be a GOOD defender, but he can definitely be at least average on that end. And offensively he can become one of the very best players in the league. His playmaking is already top 5 for PGs


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[Vega-0021]

Trae will likely never be a GOOD defender, but he can definitely be at least average on that end. And offensively he can become one of the very best players in the league. His playmaking is already top 5 for PGs


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What have you seen that makes you hopeful that Trae reaches even average levels of defense? Not only is he at a physical disadvantage, but his IQ on that end is horrendous.

 

[jiggajoefreezy]

I'd bet on the 6'7" point forward even though I love Trae. Trae has to be historically good to reach Steph's level and that's a tall task to ask of any player really even if he is really good.

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[commitcrimes]

What have you seen that makes you hopeful that Trae reaches even average levels of defense? Not only is he at a physical disadvantage, but his IQ on that end is horrendous.

Just the fact that he is a 19 year old kid who is an extremely hard worker and wants to be great. I’m betting on the kid and his work ethic. Nothing great shows up on tape I’m not gonna argue that. I watched almost all of his games last year and yes he has a long long way to go defensively. If there’s no progress at all in years 2 or 3 it’ll be a big concern. But again, I think he will figure it out to the point he is average when he hits his prime.


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[johnnyjohnstone]

Luka

 

[Anghellic11]

If you value curry as high as I do it would be stupid to say lol to trae this early.

Trae can bring depth to an offense even somebody as versatile as luka can only dream of.

You are saying you know for a fact he wont?

I do not think Trae will ever come close to Steph's value, and they're not really that similar as players.

We also going to ignore that Trae is statistically the worst defender in that league and he's most likely going to be hopeless on that end for the rest of his career?

Even if they rate out as equals on offense, which I don't think is out of the question, the gap defensively is huge. And Luka's not even good on D.

If him being really bad at defense is the only major down side in your eyes the kid has a really really bright future ahead of him. If there's one position/player you could attempt to hide on defense and possibly get away with it, it would be his. Of course youd need the right personnel to do it.

Luka can be like a fully formed evan Turner on steroids offensively (and I mean that as a massive compliment) but trae has shown curry range with league leading APG potential as well which the thought of is just ridiculous. A person who you have to ball deny as an off ball threat as soon as they hit half court who also is getting 10+ APG.. yikes.

I think luka has a higher chance at realizing his ceiling though but trae might be worth a gamble.

Lol this could easily be bumped in 6 years and trae might be having an mvp season or he might be poor mans Lou Williams. That is a pretty swingy prediction, I actually feel like hyperboles and extremes are deserved in his case. I think Luka will at least be pretty good and potentially more than that

 

[Vega-0021]

Yeah, there are bad defenders, and then there are Trae Young level defenders... he needs to be overwhelmingly and consistently elite on offense (i.e. Nash) to make up the difference. That's hard to ask for anyone, but maybe Trae is up for the task.

I think it's a myth that you can get away with sucking on D as a PG -- especially with the abundance of good/great PG's in this league. And how switchy everything has become.

 

[Sandman822]

Imagine actually thinking Trae had the better rookie season when he was ass for 4 months of it.

He was “ass for 4 months” and still neck and neck statistically with the fatass golden boy everybody has crowned lol.

Guy averaged 19 and 8 across 81 games, and 24 and 9 over the last 2 months as a 19 year old rookie and people think he’s ass lmao.


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Are you an ATL fan?

 

[commitcrimes]

Are you an ATL fan?

Yes.


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[RyanRogers013]

I got a feeling Trae has a better career. He seems special

 

[Last_Light]

I don't like how poor Young is on D. Unless he can shore up that side of the ball it's a no from me dog. The Curry comparison is poor cause Curry isn't a bad defender. He's just the weakest line on an amazing team.

On the other hand not sure Luka is gonna get much better. However his floor is still really good. I feel like Luka is more of a safe bet. I'd take him.

 

[RyanRogers013]

Trae will never be a good defender but I definitely expect he will rise from worst in the league to just a run of the mill bad defender lol.

 

[CyberneticGliscor]

Offensively it's hard to say who will go down as the better player, the sky is the limit for both on that side of the ball. Both can shoot from anywhere and can pass well, Doncic doesn't have Trae's range but he's a point forward that can operate inside if necessary, that's something Trae can't provide.

The problem with both guys is defense, I can't see Trae ever be a positive on defense with his size/athleticism, Doncic at least seems like he can one day be passable on that end

I liked watching both and I actually enjoyed watching Trae more but I'd rather build around Doncic.

 

[TabathaFiat]

I like Trae a lot but it's Luka without hesitation for me. Size matters.

 

[KuShEd_OuT860]

The taller guy

 

[KuShEd_OuT860]

I like Trae a lot but it's Luka without hesitation for me. Size matters.

Pause

 

[mqg96]

I'm a Hawks fan, and I'm going to be biased and say that Trae Young deserves it the most, but if we're talking about the WHOLE season and not just after the all star break, then it would have to be Luka Doncic. Another thing that doesn't help, Trae Young plays in Atlanta, a sports town that never gets the respect because of our epic failures and collapses, while Luka Doncic plays in Dallas, whose NBA franchise had a championship in 2011 and is home of the Cowboys. So Luka is going to get it, but the rookie of the year doesn't mean anything to me. I only care about the future. Luka was already playing it a more advanced league than Trae, so it was going to take Trae longer to get the feel of the NBA game while Luka was going to pick it up faster from the start. In the peak of Luka and Trae's careers I expect Trae Young to be the overall better player. Trae Young is great in points and assists, and has already broken a lot of records for a rookie coming out of college in America. Trae just has to work on his rebounds and defense, and he'll get bigger eventually.

 

[giveupthegoods]

Right now, easily Luka.

 

[OmarSwag]

If you value curry as high as I do it would be stupid to say lol to trae this early.

Trae can bring depth to an offense even somebody as versatile as luka can only dream of.

You are saying you know for a fact he wont?

I do not think Trae will ever come close to Steph's value, and they're not really that similar as players.

Trae Young and Damian Lillard are the closest players we have to Curry.

 

[dab7291993]

If you have a great defensive team, and put Trae Young on it, you're still gonna have a great defense.

When guys play with others that cover their weaknesses, these things smooth over. A 6'6" wing will guard point guards on his behalf, like 90% of the league already does, and he needs to get better at shading and being in the right spots.

Getting hung up on defense from a player like Trae Young is weird. He's the perfect guy to surround with rim running bigs who can protect the rim and 3 and D guys. The most versatile defensive point guards are already the 6'5"+ ones.

 

[-Faizon-]

Trae Young because I took him 11:1 to win ROTY before the season and that would be a nice payout, but I know it won't happen.

 

[TheNickyManiac]

Luka has the pedigree of a generational talent, and looked like a 10-year veteran on his best nights as a 19-year old rookie.

Trae Young if he is driven and motivated enough may end up being the second coming of Curry in terms of drawing defensive attention by way of a potent shooting and crafty off-ball game, but I think any betting man would have to go with Doncic on this one.

 

[Tuneman7]

Luka I think is better across the board.

I have a hard time buying into what Trae can do especially if he ever gets to the playoffs and they start targeting switches on him defensively or being physical with him. He can score for sure but he needs to improve defensively at least to the point of being average. (which will be difficult due to his small frame)

 

[D-Train35]

other than the obscure houston area rapper i've never seen anyone spell my name like trae young does. that's my dude by default

doncic is better though

 

[yung_God555]

luka doncic

bitch gave me neck like an ostrich

 

[commitcrimes]

Trade ended up being Luka Doncic for Trae Young and Cam Reddish.


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[rockchalkjordan]

I will take lukas

 

[bdiddy5115]

If you have a great defensive team, and put Trae Young on it, you're still gonna have a great defense.

When guys play with others that cover their weaknesses, these things smooth over. A 6'6" wing will guard point guards on his behalf, like 90% of the league already does, and he needs to get better at shading and being in the right spots.

Getting hung up on defense from a player like Trae Young is weird. He's the perfect guy to surround with rim running bigs who can protect the rim and 3 and D guys. The most versatile defensive point guards are already the 6'5"+ ones.

I get that point but Young had Isaiah Thomas-esque defensive ratings last year, where he did literally tanked an otherwise-okay Atlanta defense

- 507 out of 507 players in DRPM (-4.55)
- Hawks have a 108.4 DRTG with Trae sitting (which would be 10th in the L)
- Hawks have a 117.0 DRTG with Trae playing (which would be 30th in the L)

He's not as unusually small as IT so I don't that drastic effect will continue, but he is undersized (6'3" wingspan, thin frame) and with his heavy workload on O, it's unlikely he'll ever be better than bad on the other end.

But I do like what Atlanta did in the Draft. Hunter, Reddish and Fernando are a great trio to add, especially on D. Hunter will fit right in on both ends, Reddish is the upside risk, and Fernando is a physical rim-runner they can use. Reddish obviously comes with question marks, but I think Atlanta is a great spot for him.

 

[Vega-0021]

If you have a great defensive team, and put Trae Young on it, you're still gonna have a great defense.

When guys play with others that cover their weaknesses, these things smooth over. A 6'6" wing will guard point guards on his behalf, like 90% of the league already does, and he needs to get better at shading and being in the right spots.

Getting hung up on defense from a player like Trae Young is weird. He's the perfect guy to surround with rim running bigs who can protect the rim and 3 and D guys. The most versatile defensive point guards are already the 6'5"+ ones.

He's not just bad. He's a historically bad defender. Kyrie Irving level of effort on D would be a massive, massive upgrade.

Plus, you guys cry about Steph's game diminishing in the playoffs when defense get more physical ... how the hell do you think Trae would fare getting hounded, harassed, and then targeted over and over again on D?

 

[Sandman822]

I honestly cannot wait to see Trae Young in a playoff series getting man handled defensively.

 

[Lakerfan000102]

Trae is still underrated. Damn shame. “Sucked for four months” my ass.

In 2019, Young was averaging 22 PPG on 56.8% TS & 8.6 APG on a 2.4:1 AST:TO ratio. By the All-Star break, he was posting 25/9 on 58% TS and a damn near 3:1 AST:TO ratio... as a rookie. That’s an extended stretch of basketball that, stretched over the course of a season, six players in league history have been able to accomplish.

“Not even close” my ass.

I honestly cannot wait to see Trae Young in a playoff series getting man handled defensively.

Sad.

 

[Vega-0021]

Trae is still underrated. Damn shame. “Sucked for four months” my ass.

In 2019, Young was averaging 22 PPG on 56.8% TS & 8.6 APG on a 2.4:1 AST:TO ratio. By the All-Star break, he was posting 25/9 on 58% TS and a damn near 3:1 AST:TO ratio... as a rookie. That’s an extended stretch of basketball that, stretched over the course of a season, six players in league history have been able to accomplish.

“Not even close” my ass.


Sad.

Sure, offensively, it's close. Give me Luka any day, but it IS kind of close. Offensively.

Trae is still a helpless paper bag in the wind on defense.

 

[Lakerfan000102]

Trae is still underrated. Damn shame. “Sucked for four months” my ass.

In 2019, Young was averaging 22 PPG on 56.8% TS & 8.6 APG on a 2.4:1 AST:TO ratio. By the All-Star break, he was posting 25/9 on 58% TS and a damn near 3:1 AST:TO ratio... as a rookie. That’s an extended stretch of basketball that, stretched over the course of a season, six players in league history have been able to accomplish.

“Not even close” my ass.


Sad.

Sure, offensively, it's close. Give me Luka any day, but it IS kind of close. Offensively.

Trae is still a helpless paper bag in the wind on defense.

I think since the calendar year, Trae has held a relatively substantial offensive lead. Not only did Trae contribute rarefied offensive production but in that same time span Luka hit a bit of a snag, replicated by his dip in scoring efficiency and uptick in turnovers despite consistent minutes per game.

As for defense, Trae stank. That much is true. But I do subscribe to 1) Zach Lowe’s 70/30 offensive v. defensive value in impact and 2) defense is increasingly more important when shifting from guards to wings, wings to forwards, forwards to big men and vice versa. In theory, Hunter and Bembry would be plus-defenders that can handle guards and wings while Trae takes the lowest defensive responsibility. Worst case, he is switched off a pick and the opposition plays off-dribble isolation, which is a low-efficiency form of offense when done in excess. Trae can be covered to some extent.

Luka is also bad on defense. Not as bad as Trae and Luka has some resemblance of tools to not suck whereas Trae doesn’t have a whole lot to work with physically, but there is a greater emphasis to defend as a wing vs. wings than at PG

 

[Vega-0021]

I think since the calendar year, Trae has held a relatively substantial offensive lead. Not only did Trae contribute rarefied offensive production but in that same time span Luka hit a bit of a snag, replicated by his dip in scoring efficiency and uptick in turnovers despite consistent minutes per game.

As for defense, Trae stank. That much is true. But I do subscribe to 1) Zach Lowe’s 70/30 offensive v. defensive value in impact and 2) defense is increasingly more important when shifting from guards to wings, wings to forwards, forwards to big men and vice versa. In theory, Hunter and Bembry would be plus-defenders that can handle guards and wings while Trae takes the lowest defensive responsibility. Worst case, he is switched off a pick and the opposition plays off-dribble isolation, which is a low-efficiency form of offense when done in excess. Trae can be covered to some extent.

Luka is also bad on defense. Not as bad as Trae and Luka has some resemblance of tools to not suck whereas Trae doesn’t have a whole lot to work with physically, but there is a greater emphasis to defend as a wing vs. wings than at PG

He sucked ass the entire first half of the season whereas Luka maintained relatively consistent production the entire season -- though he did slowly become inefficient as the season progressed. It evened out. (It also should be mentioned that Luka's downside coincided closely with half his team being traded at the deadline.)

You can subscribe to whatever theory you want, but the defensive on-off ratings paint an entirely different picture from what you're suggesting. Like Diddy pointed out, Hawks were approximately an average defensive team without him off the court, and goddamn terrible with him on.

 

[rocknrollsisyphus]

He sucked ass the entire first half of the season whereas Luka maintained relatively consistent production the entire season -- though he did slowly become inefficient as the season progressed. It evened out. (It also should be mentioned that Luka's downside coincided closely with half his team being traded at the deadline.)

You can subscribe to whatever theory you want, but the defensive on-off ratings paint an entirely different picture from what you're suggesting. Like Diddy pointed out, Hawks were approximately an average defensive team without him off the court, and goddamn terrible with him on.

With respect to the bolded - it's also worth noting that Young's improvements essentially began when Prince and Collins both returned to the lineup. The team around Young improved throughout the season, whereas the team around Doncic slipped.

 

[Lakerfan000102]

Trae was ass for one month (November) and subsequently ascended afterwards. Let's not paint this picture that Trae had a hot streak at the end of the season when in fact he was damn good for the majority of it.

Hawks were also putrid offensively when Trae is off the court, but Trae ran a top 10 offense in 2019 on the court.

 

[dab7291993]

With respect to the bolded - it's also worth noting that Young's improvements essentially began when Prince and Collins both returned to the lineup. The team around Young improved throughout the season, whereas the team around Doncic slipped.

I agree and this is a natural thing. Players play better with better surrounding talent, and it shouldn't be used that heavily for or against them when evaluating or comparing them. Especially for super young guys

 

[commitcrimes]

Lets keep this bumped for this season. Both players looked great opening night


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