The Hawks shocked the NBA world when they traded back from the third spot in the draft to the fifth and drafted Trae Young. The one-and-done star out of Oklahoma will be under the microscope his entire rookie campaign and it started Monday night in Utah’s summer league.
Young struggled throughout his debut, starting 0-10 from the field and finishing a disappointing 4-20. For the entire night Young’s shot looked a lot like this:
Trae Young playing in his first game as a member of the Atlanta Hawks. (h/t @World_Wide_Wob) pic.twitter.com/qnfU8xeVZp
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 2, 2018
More of what we saw in the second half of the season with the Sooners than the first half. However, Young did show the ability to get to the free throw line off of the dribble with his shot not falling, finishing the game with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Final: Grizzlies 103, Hawks 88. Trae Young finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists on 4-for-20 shooting.
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) July 3, 2018
It was not the debut the polarizing prospect wanted to begin his career with the Hawks, and what made it even more painful to watch was Jaren Jackson Jr. nailing eight threes and leaving the game with 29 points. Jackson was one of the prospects the Hawks were rumored to be targeting with the third overall pick. After Atlanta traded out of the pick, Jackson was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the fourth pick. The Hawks are an organization riddled with franchise altering mistakes. If Monday night was a sign of things to come, Atlanta will once again be thinking about what could have been five years down the road. After one summer league game, though, there is no reason to jump to any conclusions.