Trae Young On Heat's Defense: I Haven't Been Consistently Guarded Like This Since HS
- Thread starter Big Boss
- Start date
Tookalossfellbackcameback
Superstar
Limited player that's the focal point of an offense.
I personally don't think you build around a player like that.
Hawks organization seems committed though.
I personally don't think you build around a player like that.
Hawks organization seems committed though.
Hawks need a guy who can genuinely relieve stress off Trae. They sorta play heliocentric ball so all the Heat need to do is shut down Trae when he has the ball and that's it for the whole offense which is even easier to do than other famous heliocentric players(who tend to fail in the playoffs) since he's smaller than guys like Harden or Luka, nor is he the athlete a guy like Russ was.
What Trae does bring to the table though is the most off-ball scoring potential imo. Trae is 43% on catch-and-shoot 3s over the past 3 seasons, 48% this year. He could have immense gravity off-the-catch opening it up for a secondary creator while draining the shots that get thrown his way. If a defender closes out, he can also use his threat of the shot and his quickness to get downhill which he loves allowing him to freely collapse a defense which is really more of a key aspect of his game than shooting 3s is.
People lobbed comparisons to Steph at Trae when in reality it's clear he plays more like Harden. That being said, what he actually needs is a little more Steph. The ability to be a threat off-ball and play off of that sometimes. Trae needs to continue growing that part of his game, but the Hawks also need to find a second star who can create in the first place. There's no room for him to go off-ball in their current offense since no one else can really do anything with the ball in their hands at an elite level.
ALonelyDad
Veteran
When you are the only allstar on your team, this is how you will be defended especially by a smart team like Heat. Trae would benefit greatly with a wing that can score, you were hoping Reddish and Hunter could have been those guys. Hunter might still have hope