Being Trae Young: One game through the eyes and goggles of the Hawks star point guard

Publish date: 2024-05-18

For one night, it wasn’t “Ice Trae” who we saw on the floor for the Hawks but “Eyes Trae.”

OK, you can boo now. Trae Young wore goggles against the Magic on Tuesday night after Onyeka Okongwu inadvertently whacked him in the face during Sunday’s game against the Pacers. It left Young with a bruised right eyelid, so for precautionary reasons, he wore protective glasses. Young didn’t have any practice time during Tuesday morning’s shootaround to get used to them, so the first time he tried them on was during warm-ups for the Hawks’ game against the Magic.

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Young said he felt fine wearing them after getting into a rhythm, but he did briefly take them off during the third quarter before wearing them for the rest of the game. Young shot 7 of 16, scored 25 points and made nine of his 10 free throws in the Hawks’ 112-96 win over the Magic.

With Orlando being a much inferior opponent to Atlanta, I went into this game wanting to do something different than what I normally do when I watch games. I wanted to just watch Young when he was on the floor, no matter if he had the ball or not. I wanted to see how he moves without the ball, how he organizes the Hawks’ offense and watch what he does defensively.

Here’s what I saw from Young on Tuesday night.

Pregame

When Young was a child, he and his father, Ray, had season tickets for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’d get to games as soon as the arena’s doors opened because Young wanted to study his favorite players up close. He wanted to see what guys such as Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook did to prepare for that night’s game, and he’d mentally note what they did in warm-ups so he could incorporate their routines into his own when he ended up making it to the NBA.

Now in his third year in the NBA, Young has his own routine that he follows. Before fans enter the arena, Young takes countless shots from all spots on the floor — near half court, in the midrange, regular 3s, floaters, and he always ends with his version of Curry’s tunnel shot, which is to sit on the team’s bench and make a 3.

To get a sense of how detailed Young is about his pregame routine, before he even got to the NBA, he envisioned how he’d walk onto the floor when his name was called with the starters; it’s always the same — a slow walk with both arms extended outward to give his teammates high-fives before he does his signature handshakes with John Collins and Clint Capela.

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It’s game time.

First quarter

11:43: The Hawks come out and run the same play to start the game as they did on Sunday against the Pacers. Atlanta wins the tip and has Young bring the ball into the half court. He passes it to Bogdan Bogdanovic, who gives it back to Young. Right away, it’s clear the Magic are going to live with Young taking his floaters, as they’re in drop coverage with the Hawks’ point guard driving to the rim. Young airballs (it’s officially ruled a turnover), and Wendell Carter Jr. comes back on the other end and makes a 3 for Orlando.

Non-Hawks observers might think Young’s penchant for deep 3s is his best shot and signature move, but it’s his floater that’s his go-to on offense. He led the league last season in points off of runners and made 49 percent of his attempts — a remarkably high number for a shot that requires precision. This year, Young is around league average in field goal percentage on his runners. Young has already attempted 282 floaters this season, per Synergy, the next closest is Memphis’ Ja Morant at 172.

8:54: It’s not even four minutes into the game and Young is already making the opposing team mad about his foul-drawing. This time, it’s Carter who’s visibly frustrated with the referees for calling a non-shooting foul after sticking out his arm with Young driving in the lane.

8:43: Seconds later, Carter is, once again, angry. He and Cole Anthony trap Young in the left corner, but Young has such a knack for understanding defensive positioning and knowing when he can exploit that to his benefit. He draws contact with Carter and goes to the free-throw line.

Young’s ability to get to the line is a true weapon for the Hawks, even though every other team hates it. The Hawks are second in the NBA in free-throw rate behind Philadelphia.

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7:45: Another one of Young’s patented moves is the right-to-left crossover dribble where he rejects the pick. He’s one of the best in the league at doing it, as the Magic’s first-round pick this year quickly realizes.

Goggles Trae > pic.twitter.com/UzCCYgLSBJ

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 20, 2021

6:55: Young is so gifted at drawing defenders where he wants them to be. He gets the ball at the top of the key and holds the ball out toward the right side of his body. Collins is in the right corner, and Young baits Orlando’s defense to thinking he’s going to pass it to him, but the move allows Kevin Huerter to run out to the left corner. Young hits him in stride, and it’s a made 3 for Huerter.

“I love starting the game getting everybody involved and trying to get everybody involved, so everybody has a good feel and a good rhythm going into the game,” Young said after the game. “As the game goes on, everybody is warm and has touched the ball already, so everybody feels good. As the game goes on, I continue to look to be more aggressive. I love to get teammates involved early and run a lot of plays, like pindowns, to get other guys involved in spots they like it. As the game goes on, try to be more aggressive. My teammates be asking me and telling me to be more aggressive as the game goes on. It works both ways. I’m happy I have the teammates I do.”

1:16: There are times when it’s blatantly clear that Young is trying to reach for shooting fouls. This is one of those times. Young gets R.J. Hampton in the air, but Young throws his body into him and puts up a shot attempt. The refs don’t call a foul. Young gets his own rebound and then misses a long fadeaway jumper.

These kinds of plays are ones the competition committee has looked at over the past several months, and it’s become quite clear the refs have been instructed not to call fouls when a defender jumps and the shooter jumps forward with the hope of getting a whistle. Lloyd Pierce mentioned this in a competition committee meeting earlier in the season and said how he ‘hates’ the shots Young takes at times and the fouls he’s able to draw on them.

End of first quarter: Magic 24, Hawks 27 

Second quarter

4:28: This play was likely glossed over by some because Young didn’t get the assist here, but it just shows Young’s brilliance as a playmaker. He crosses up Anthony on the perimeter, stops at the elbow and somehow fits the bounce pass in between Orlando’s defense to the only spot possible for Collins to grab the ball. The Magic are then in scramble mode, and it leads to a Huerter 3. Only a few players in the league can make this kind of read and pass that Young makes here.

3:50: It’s gone a bit under the radar this season that Young isn’t taking nearly the same number of 3s as he was in his first two seasons. He’s shooting three fewer 3-point attempts per game, and he’s been less efficient on those fewer attempts. On this play, Huerter gets the steal and Young is wide open in the corner for a 3. He decides to not take the shot and instead passes it to Bogdanovic, who’s also wide open. Bogdanovic makes the shot. Bogdanovic is one of the hottest 3-point shooters in the league. Curry is the only player in April to make more 3s than him; Young obviously realizes the torrid stretch Bogdanovic is on, but he normally would take a wide-open shot like that in the corner.

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I asked him after the game why he’s taking fewer 3s this season.

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Young said. “I got some other guys who can really shoot the ball. I’m still shooting my floaters and still doing all of that. I’m still one of the top guys in the league in assists. I don’t care about shooting 3s and all of that stuff. If I get open 3s, I’m gonna shoot them. If I find gaps in lanes, I’m going to attack them. That’s kind of how it is. I don’t really play numbers or percentages or how many 3s I take. I don’t focus on all of that. I just focus on making the right play.”

End of second quarter: Magic 48, Hawks 65 

Halftime

The energy is loose on the Hawks’ end of the floor with them not playing particularly crisp but still up almost 20 over a rebuilding Magic team. Young is goofing off with Nathan Knight, who’s in the left corner working on his 3s. Young gives Knight three behind-the-back passes before the rookie makes the third one. Then, Knight does the same for Young, who makes his first attempt from 3.

One of Young’s best friends, RJ Fuqua, is sitting courtside. Fuqua gets Young’s attention as he walks back to his seat, and he’s holding his phone up with his flash on. Young waves him off and he goes back to his halftime routine of getting up some 3-point shots.

Third quarter

9:33: This wasn’t the prettiest of quarters from Young. I don’t know if he got too comfortable with the Hawks’ lead, but his play in the quarter was one of the biggest reasons Orlando ended up cutting the lead to six.

Young took a 3 just steps outside of the logo, Collins got the rebound, gave it back to Young, who cut to the basket but ended up dribbling the ball off his leg.

8:45: Young gets Anthony to jump on a pump fake, and instead of potentially sidestepping and taking a 3, he drives into traffic and ends up missing the runner. Again, him passing up 3s is definitely something to watch moving forward. I don’t know if he doesn’t have the confidence in his shot that he usually has, but it’s been noticeable how he’s passed up opportunities.

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7:53: His struggles in the quarter continue with a pass that I am not sure what he could have possibly seen. Ostensibly, he was trying to find Bogdanovic under the rim for a layup, but there were two Magic defenders he would have had to thread the ball through to get it to him. He then fouled Anthony on the other end, and suddenly it was a 10-point game.

These are the kinds of plays Young has to limit; it’s just a waste of a possession for the Hawks.

“He had five turnovers and one of the things he and I talked about is I think he’s too good,” Nate McMillan said. “I think he’s such a dynamic player, can create and that five turnovers is too many turnovers to have in a ball game. That’s something that he and I have talked about.

“I want him to take care of the ball. It’s not taking away his aggressiveness. That’s how he plays. Sometimes, you’re trying to thread the needle and playing in traffic, dribbling and passing in traffic and you’re playing against professionals who are really good players. They’re going to get their hands on that. Sometimes he doesn’t need to make those passes. Just keep the game simple with the spacing we have out on the floor. I think he’s good enough to cut those turnovers down to two or three a game is what I’ve challenged him to do.”

7:23: I think this is what McMillan is talking about when he says, “I think he’s too good.” Just 30 seconds after a poor turnover, he comes back and makes a play like this. It’s what makes him so special.

The vision is elite. pic.twitter.com/jCt4LcDyw9

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 21, 2021

3:43: This is another one of the frustrating moments watching Young. He sometimes gets lost in the shot clock when he holds on to the ball for too long and then tries making a play at the last second. This time, he’s diligently trying to drive around Carter, who does a good job of holding his position by not allowing Young to beat him to the hoop. When that fails, he gives it up to Bogdanovic, who has to chuck up a 3 to beat the shot clock.

3:25: There’s some miscommunication between Young and Bogdanovic defensively. They get crossed up with one another on that end of the floor, and it allows Devin Cannady to have a wide-open 3 in the corner. The Magic cut it to 6, and McMillan subs Young out of the game for Brandon Goodwin.

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It was a brutal quarter for Young, in particular, and the Hawks are lucky that Orlando is just a bad team because it could have gotten uglier than what it was. These are the kinds of quarters the Hawks can’t afford to have from their star player when the playoffs get here. Limiting the turnovers and mental mistakes have to be a priority for him before the end of the season.

End of third quarter: Magic 72, Hawks 80

Fourth quarter

8:37: Young has one of his best defensive plays in the game. He has a strong closeout in the corner, causing Chasson Randle to step out of bounds. He and the Hawks were fired up about this one, as the bench applauded Young’s effort.

8:26: He quickly followed his defensive play by making a wide-open pull-up 3, and the Hawks were back up 15 and in comfortable position heading down the stretch.

“Getting us organized, I think he did that certainly in that fourth quarter, controlling that game and tempo,” McMillan said. “He came in and stepped up and made a big 3, just organizing us during that stretch is where we want to see growth, and I think we’ve seen that in the last few games.”

4:12: The Hawks were trying to run as much clock as possible down the stretch, and it was mostly a quiet quarter from Young. With the shot clock winding down, Young rejected the screen, drove hard to the rim and made the floater, putting the Hawks up 19.

I was actually surprised the starters were still in the game at this point because the Hawks play in New York on Wednesday night, an important game in the race for the fourth seed in the East.

Final: Magic 96, Hawks 112

Postgame 

As is customary in Atlanta, you never know who might be sitting courtside during a Hawks game. This time, it was Swae Lee, one half of the rap group Rae Sremmurd. Young dapped up Lee after the game and signed his jersey for him.

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During postgame interviews, Lou Williams, who’s been in the league for over a decade, was asked if Young’s game reminds him of anyone he’s seen over the years. The only name he mentioned was one of the best scoring point guards in league history.

“It’s definitely unique, but he has a lot of different flashes of a lot of small guards that’s been able to score in this league,” Williams said. “He’s just a talented guy. With his size and his ability to create, there are opportunities to score at the free-throw line and he can keep defenders honest with his range and his midrange floaters gives me a lot of (Allen Iverson), but he’s definitely unique in his own sense.”

Related Reading

• Hawks, Celtics, Knicks, Heat: Who will win race for No. 4 seed?

(Photo: Scott Cunningham / NBAE via Getty Images)

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