Trae Young is a three-time All-Star and was an All-NBA selection in 2021-22.
Despite the individual accolades, the Atlanta Hawks star has lamented the team’s lack of success outside of their run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.
The way these Hawks are set up, the team’s success will invariably be tied to Young’s day-to-day performance. As such, projections for the 2024-25 MVP race carry a bit more weight than they have in recent seasons.
Young is unlikely to +25000, the 23rd best oddsaccording to FanDuel Sportsbook.
“Trae Young is ready to display monstrous numbers” wrote Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz on August 19.
“The three-time All-Star averaged 28.4 points per game and was named to the All-NBA Third Team the year before the Hawks acquired him. [Dejounte] Murray: There’s no reason to believe Young won’t once again be among the league’s top scorers.
Murray was honest about the difficulties of pairing two playmakers through an on-court swap.
Young’s usage rate reached 34.9% in the three seasons before Murray’s arrival in 2022, according to Basketball Reference.
It never fell below 33% during this period and never reached that threshold during Murray’s brief tenureThis heliocentric style of play was seen as detrimental because it allowed defenses to lock down a player to stop the Hawks’ offense, leading to the trade for Murray.
It also led to the Hawks’ best finish of the Young era and they appear poised for a comeback.
“For Atlanta to have a chance to win most nights, Young will need to be under more offensive pressure, both as a scorer and as a creator,” Swartz wrote.
“Only three players in NBA history “The two best players in NFL history have at least 30 points and 10 assists per game: Russell Westbrook, Tiny Archibald and Oscar Robertson. If Young becomes the fourth player of the season, it could propel him into the MVP race.”
Four players averaged at least 30 points in 2023-24.
Two of them were big men Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. The other two, however, were ball-dominant guards Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Antetokounmpo, Doncic and Gilgeous Alexander are all ranked in the the top three in terms of utilization rate in 2023-24.
Young has averaged over 10.0 assists per game over the past two seasons and has already set a goal of matching his No. 11 jersey in 2024-25.
It seems the same goes for as long as his teammates can make their shots.
That’s probably the biggest obstacle to Young reaching the 30-10 mark. Swartz thinks it could help him earn MVP consideration. He’s a household name at this point in his career. The rest of the roster is much less so.
Bogdan Bogdanovic and Jalen Johnson are the only other two sources of consistent offense on the roster.
Bogdanovic is 32 and Johnson has dealt with nagging injuries in 2023-24.
The team’s success – only three players have ever won MVP with fewer than 50 wins – and the health and shooting success of his teammates pose greater threats to Young’s candidacy than his numbers, with his career highs of 29.6 points (2019-20) and 10.8 assists (2023-24) underscoring his potential.
