No, It is not Time to Panic About Trae Young

Young is off to a slow start, but it is not time to overreact

The 2023-2024 NBA season is underway and most teams have only played two games at the most. There is still some feeling out going on and while the Atlanta Hawks have come out of the gate slow, it is just two games and they were both very winnable games against the Hornets (whom the Hawks struggle against in the regular season consistently). 

The topic around the Hawks's slow start has been star point guard Trae Young. Young is a lightning rod among many people who cover the NBA and its fans. You will find people who don't like Young and his style of play and his lack of defense. His loudest critics will say that he pads stats in the regular season but does not contribute to winning in meaningful ways (despite leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals) and whenever Young plays poorly, the critics will pounce. With Young's slow start to the season, we are already seeing that in action. 

Now I will say, that the defense has been poor to start the season and you can see that in certain plays against the Knicks. There has to be more effort from him on that end and I think that is something that Quin Snyder is going to have to work on this season. When Snyder took over last year, Young did show flashes of being able to fly around and steal the ball, but that has been missing so far this year. I want to see Young find a way to be active as the season goes on and am hopeful that is something that will happen. 

Now is not the time to panic about Trae Young.  / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Admittedly, the offense has been ugly so far, but that is not the part that I am worried about. Young is one of the best playmakers in the NBA and is shooting abnormally bad through the first couple of games. Young is currently shooting 22.9% so far this season and 21.4% on three-pointers. He is still passing the ball well, but has been a little careless with the ball in the first two games, averaging nearly six turnovers per

My biggest gripe right now? It's been two games. There are 80 more to go and there is not a big enough sample size to suggest that Young is on some downward spiral that will doom the Hawks this year. It just feels like some were waiting for the first sign of trouble and then going over the top with the criticism. 

Young talked about his struggles after the matchup against the Knicks on Friday and is well aware that he needs to play better: 

"It was good. There is moments but its like... we are still learning this stuff and everything is new. It is tough. We played really good in the preseason in moments, but none of the starters played in any of the fourth quarters or anything. These are the first two fourth quarters we played and we are still trying to learn certain actions in certain moments, like when we need to use it, we have a lot of different things that we can do. Sometimes when guys are tired, you can forget things, your mind can go different places, we gotta learn how to play with certain movements and certain signals that we have, voice calling, there is a lot of things that we have. But it is just going to take time and reps and reps and reps of us doing it for it to be where it needs to be for us to win."

In terms of his struggles through the first couple of games and what he could be doing better, Young talked through a couple of different things:

"For me, I just have to continue to be better in every area, I have not started... I am getting assists but I mean I am turning the ball over and some of that is playing through contact and the refs not calling that and that is leading to bad shots that are going off the glass that I am getting fouled but not getting the call, I just have to play through that. I have to continue to get better in all areas not just one so I have to do that first and then the rest of the team, we are going to get better if we just listen to Quin and just continue to get these reps up and our offense I feel like... our offense is affecting our defense right now to be honest with you I think our defense has been really good but our offense maybe is... sometimes I will go up and I won't get the call and I will shoot a layup under the basket and then they are in a five on four that way so that has not been putting our team in good position so for me, I have to do better in those positions and I will and I will help my teammates out and we just have to continue to trust this process and we will be all right I believe.

Young is not going to be the first star NBA player to have a two-game stretch where he shoots poorly. There is enough evidence out there to suggest that Young will turn things around and be a very impactful offensive player. The Hawks are going to be counting on him too and I believe that he will. He will have a chance to get back on the right track tonight in Milwaukee. 

Viewing and Betting Information

Tip-off time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass and Bally Sports Southeast

Spread and Over/Under: The Hawks will be underdogs on the road tonight, as they are currently 7.5 point underdogs according to the latest odds from the SI Sportsbook and the over/under is set at 238.5

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