The Steph Curry comparisons are unfair to Trae Young, but they won’t go away
Ice Trae melted the Heat last night.
Bruh. ?❄️ pic.twitter.com/zNIYAKCH4Z
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 21, 2020
Come on. That is straight foolery.
Actually, it reminds us of someone.
Some of Steph Curry’s best three’s from the playoffs ? pic.twitter.com/0wnf1PT99k
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 25, 2019
Here are a few highlights, just in case you forgot about this person.
Steph Curry is arguably the greatest three-point assassin in NBA history, so naturally, every time a small guard enters the league, one who can also shoot threes with precision, he will be compared to Curry.
? @TheTraeYoung put on a clinic tonight #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/9RedVZJt0C
— The Association on FOX (@TheAssociation) February 21, 2020
Trae Young is one of those guys.
And on Thursday night, he put on a Curry-like performance.
That’s a baaaaaaaaaad man@TheTraeYoung dropped a new career-high 50 points last night in the big win against the Heat ?
Presented by @KumhoTireUSA #TrueToAtlanta x #PeachUpATownDown pic.twitter.com/0NEgyq6ElW— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 21, 2020
Unfair. Unruly. Unbelievable.
It was only right to drop a 50-piece with Huncho in the house! ❄️✊ pic.twitter.com/frRyilO8QR
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 21, 2020
In fact, Young’s performance surpassed Curry-like and approached legendary.
Trae Young is the third youngest player in NBA history with a 50-point game in a win.
20y, 52d — Brandon Jennings
21y, 22d — LeBron James
21y, 154d — Trae Young pic.twitter.com/bOEUFaBSet— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 21, 2020
But, there is a silver lining for the NBA.
While Young – similar to Curry – might be ready to wreck the league on the offense…
Trae Young is on pace to join
– Russell Westbrook
– Nate Archibald
– Oscar Robertsonas the only players in NBA history to put up 30 PPG and 9 APG in a season. pic.twitter.com/AzwKQZIzX0
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 21, 2020
…he has a long, long way to go before he is Chef Curry.
Right now, one could say he’s a sous chef.
As exciting as Trae is to watch, he’s too little and too much of a defensive liability to ever lift a team into playoff contention, unless you tell me that Steph, Klay, Draymond and KD are all going to Atlanta. More @Undisputed, now on FS1 https://t.co/BAU9vIz82q
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) February 21, 2020
Skip has a point. Curry had help. A lot of it. Atlanta’s path will be different.
And despite his lack of superstar teammates, Trae has a few areas he needs to tighten up as well.
.@RealSkipBayless on Trae Young:
“I watched every dribble that this kid took at the University of Oklahoma and I said: ‘He’s gonna be a blast to watch, but I don’t think he can be the driving force of a playoff-caliber contending team.’ And so far I’ve been right.” pic.twitter.com/ou1Y6kTlay
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) February 21, 2020
The Atlanta Hawks currently have the third worst record in the league (16-41). Only the Cleveland Cavaliers (14-40) and, ironically, the Golden State Warriors (12-44) have worse records.
In the case of the Warriors however, they are without Curry and Klay Thompson. If those two were playing, the Hawks would be battling Cleveland for last place.
Trae Young this season:
– Leads the NBA in turnovers
– Leads the NBA in 4th quarter turnovers
– Ranks 76th of 150 qualified 3-point shooters in 3 point %“He’s a turnover machine…He’s not Steph Curry, he’s not a dead eye here.” — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/M44ZZXIi8b
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) February 21, 2020
It’s true. Young is a bit loose with the ball, averaging a league-leading 4.9 turnovers per game.
And while he’s a great shooter, he can’t be considered a dead-eye shooter to the level of Curry.
Young converts on 3.5 threes per game, tied for fourth most in the NBA, and he has hit 181 threes on the season, sixth most in the NBA.
He’s shooting 37.4 percent from three.
Great numbers. But not Curry numbers.
During the 2018-19 season, Curry connected on 5.1 threes per game at a clip of 43.7 percent.
That’s a big gap.
On top of dropping 50 pts for the first time in his career, Trae Young is also averaging 30 pts and 9 asts in his second season:
“Steph Curry didn’t make the playoffs for his first 4 years… you get some more pieces around Trae Young, they have the potential.” — @ShannonSharpe pic.twitter.com/6tMLGgyML8
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) February 21, 2020
Now, Shannon also has a point. Young is 21 and in his second season. Curry was 21 during his rookie season.
And if you compare them at age 21, Young has the edge.
Players with 10+ 40-point games in their second season:
– Wilt Chamberlain
– Rick Barry
– Nate Archibald
– Jerry West
– Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
– Trae Young (including tonight) pic.twitter.com/39A6s2xgyL— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 21, 2020
Young is second in the NBA in points per game (30.1) – trailing only James Harden – and second in the NBA in assists per game (9.2) – trailing only LeBron James.
At 21, Curry averaged 17.5 points and 5.9 assists.
❄️ Don’t ever let somebody tell you Dreams can’t come true… 50 Piece❄️ pic.twitter.com/6VnwP3x7wg
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) February 21, 2020
Young is certainly making his dreams come true. And one day, his dream of winning an NBA championship may come to fruition.
But for now, entering the conversation with Curry will remain a fantasy.
