College football is back and the season started with a bang today. Georgia Tech and Florida State kicked off the new season in Dublin, Ireland and the Yellow Jackets found a way to pull off a 24-21 victory on a last-minute field goal. Georgia Tech was the center of attention in this game and many people shared their reactions to the Yellow Jackets win and one of the people who did was Hawks star Trae Young.
OK GA TECH🏈!!! College football is back!
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) August 24, 2024
Georgia Tech is a program that appears to be on the rise with Brent Key as their head coach and they showed it today. Young noticed that and praised his hometown’s major college program.
When you take a look at the likely MVP candidates for the upcoming season, you’re likely to see a lot of familiar names. Can Nikola Jokic win his fourth MVP award? Can Luka Doncic finally win an MVP award? What about players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or Jalen Brunson? All of these guys should be in the running, but could there be an unlikely candidate? Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz wrote about some unlikely candidates for the upcoming season and mentioned Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young as a possibility:
“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 Murray. There’s no reason to believe Young won’t once again be among the league’s leading scorers.
Young and Murray were the only two Hawks to average at least 17 points per game last season. The team got younger by trading Murray for Dyson Daniels and selecting 19-year-old Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick.
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. Of course, the team’s success could hurt his MVP chances.
Coming off a 36-win season, the Hawks don’t look much better on paper after trading their second-best player for Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and draft picks. Risacher won’t have the impact a No. 1 pick typically has, and there’s plenty of unproven talent on the roster overall. If Young gets this team playing .500 basketball, it’ll be a big accomplishment.
Only three players in NBA history have averaged at least 30 points and 10 assists per game: Russell Westbrook, Tiny Archibald and Oscar Robertson. If Young becomes the fourth player this season, it could propel him into the MVP race.
