Thad Young Discusses What Makes Learning Toronto's Concepts So Difficult

The Toronto Raptors' unusual versatility means Thad Young is being asked to learn how to play every position on the court at both ends of the floor

Aaron Rose | Feb 15, 2022

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

A mid-season trade is nothing new to Thad Young.

By now, the 14-year NBA veteran has seen just about everything there is to see in this league. The Toronto Raptors mark the seventh team of his career and over that time he's learned just about every offensive and defensive concept there is to learn for a 6-foot-8 forward. But in Toronto, things are different.

"I think the biggest hardest part is I'm learning multiple positions, as opposed to one or two positions," Young said Monday following his Raptors debut. "I'm learning anywhere from one on down to the five now because all the pieces are interchangeable on the court."

In Young's 12 minutes played Monday, he played in seven different lineup combinations including five minutes without anyone resembling a traditional point guard. It was a total change from anything he's ever done before. On any given possession he could be playing in the paint in Toronto's quasi-center spot or be driving with the ball off a dribble handoff from Pascal Siakam.

"We have so many similar guys that push the ball and start the break and start the plays and start the initial offense that it's a little harder to kind of learn the offense from every single position," Young added. "You try to learn five positions in one day."

Young's ability to quickly adapt to Toronto's offensive and defensive systems, at least relatively speaking, will be the biggest benefit of the trade for the Raptors. Had the Raptors opted for someone younger with a higher upside, for example, things could have gotten pretty ugly with just two months to go in the season. Think of how Gary Trent Jr. played toward the end of last season when things were totally out of sorts during what Masai Ujiri called the "Tampa tank." Young, at the very least, should be able to learn things quicker than most.

"He looked like he’s going to be able to help us out there, like just his movement with the ball, shot-creation pass-creation, those kinds of things," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Monday.

Don't expect a ton of minutes from Young moving forward, especially with the bench playing relatively well of late. But once he gets a little more acclimated to the Raptors, especially after the All-Star Break, he should be a stabilizing force off the bench that'll couple well with his veteran leadership off the court.

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