Young leads the charge

For the first time this month, Trae Young finally hit half his shots. Prior to yesterday’s outing, he managed to can a mere 34 of his 95 field goal attempts in December — remarkably atrocious for a three-time All-Star. At any other time, the numbers could be explained away by the small sample size; after all, even the best of the best find themselves swooning on occasion. Not in his case, though; a third into his 2024-25 campaign, his 30.8% and 38.4% clips from three-point territory and on aggregate stand as the worst of his career. And, considering that he has invariably leaned on the wrong side of efficiency since being drafted fifth overall in 2018, that’s saying a lot.

The irony, of course, is that the Hawks are winning despite Young’s depressed stats. They may have elephant-walked the start of their season in claiming just seven of 18 games, but they somehow turned it around thereafter even as he continued to put up bricks. In part, it’s because his threat level remains respectable; he leverages his willingness to keep hoisting as opportunities to feed teammates the ball for the score. Not for nothing is he likewise norming an all-time-high 12.2 dimes per contest. In short, he’s the engine propelling the cause of the red and yellow.

Significantly, the Hawks’ defeat at the hands of the streaking Bucks counts as an irony as well. Young may have put up a monster line (35, seven, and 10) while playing decent defense, but they found themselves eight short all the same at the buzzer. And so they bowed out in the Round of Four of the National Basketball Association Cup even as he got to make nine of a judicious 18 shots. They came close to booking a spot in the final, though; they actually led the contest early in the fourth quarter, but could not quite stick the landing.

Notwithstanding the defeat, the Hawks are in a good place. They’re seventh in East standings, and can boast of having upended the league-leading Cavaliers twice along with important triumphs over the Celtics, Bucks, and Knicks. In other words, they have proven their capacity to stand toe to toe with the established elite. It’s not an inconsequential feat, and they have used their victories to further build confidence. Clearly, they were right to abandon the Dejounte Murray experiment in the offseason. But are they also justified in keeping Young, decidedly undersized at 6’1” and 165 pounds? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, he has them exceeding themselves — exactly why he’s around and leading the charge.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.