Since the moment Trae Young was chosen by the Atlanta Hawks, his promise as a legitimate franchise player was always reliant on how he’d hold up on defense in the playoffs. In the first two years of his career, the Hawks were substantially worse on that end with Young on the floor, and despite being almost exactly league average defending in the half court when Young played this season, advanced metrics still frowned at his impact—according to FiveThirtyEight.com’s catch-all, out of the 255 players who logged at least 1000 minutes this season, Young ranked 254th in Defensive RAPTOR.
Why the Knicks Haven't Taken Advantage of Trae Young's Defense
