Appearing in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Atlanta Hawks had high hopes this season, looking to build playoff kick momentum, however at the end of the season they found themselves on the outside looking in.
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Sitting at 17-25, well into 12th in the standings, the Hawks will be hoping to repeat the surge at the end of last season as they climb to fifth seed and secure a spot in the deep playoffs. .
The Hawks, like many teams have struggled to achieve roster consistency this season, due to injuries and COVID-19 health and safety regulations, however, their one and only this season is an All-NBA-level performance by Trae Young.
Sure, they aren’t on a lot of wins, but Young’s offensive performance is making a strong argument for him being the best point guard in the Eastern Conference.
Across 38 games this season, Young is fourth in points behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, averaging a career-high 27.6 points with career longest shots 45.4 percent from pitch and 36.5 percent from deep with 7.4 tries per game.
He is also currently with Kevin Durant in the fourth most games of 30 points this season (15), behind Joel Embiid (16), Giannis Antetokounmpo (17) and LeBron James (19). While his 9.3 assists per game is third in the league, behind only James Harden and Chris Paul, given his overall influence on the Hawks’ offensive behavior, there is none. what is great.
With Young on the floor, the Hawks boast an attack rating of 115.5, compared to just 101.5 when he was sitting, 14 points better when their guard ran the show.
Young is not only in high form for the Hawks, his numbers are taking him to historic heights. The 23-year-old is on a 17-match streak of 25 plus points, breaking the franchise record of Dominique Wilkins, per Hawks PR.
In December, he became the first Hawks player to score five consecutive games with 25 plus points and 10 assists. The last player to do so was Russell Westbrook in the 2016-17 season MVP victory, per Hawks PR. Young also leads the NBA with 14 games on October 25 – the closest player in the NBA to five such games.
Now let’s put that into historical context.
In NBA history, there are only 14 other instances of a player averaging at least 27.0 points and 9.0 assists over the course of a regular season, per StatHead. Young did just that in his second NBA season in 2019-20 and looks like he’s on his way to doing this again.
Oscar Robertson did it eight times between 1961-1968, while Tiny Archibald is the only other player to do it more than once to achieve the feat between 1971-1973. Three other players on the list – Russell Westbrook (2016-17), who was named MVP that season after averaging a brace, and James Harden (2016-17) and LeBron James (2017-18) ) both ranked second in the MVP votes for their respective seasons.
The Hawks are outside the playoff picture of the East, moving below .500, keeping Young out of the MVP conversation for the moment. In Sporting News’ recent MVP Ladder, he didn’t show up, but if the Hawks repeat the surge in the second half of last season, don’t be surprised to hear Young’s name on this list.
Likely to be the starter at the All-Star game in Cleveland in February, Young only edged DeMar DeRozan in a fan vote among the Eastern Conference bodyguards.
During his brilliant 2021-22 season, he distanced himself from the point guard in the East. Ben Simmons is yet to play a game this season for the 76ers, while Kyrie Irving has only recently returned from missing a large portion of the Nets’ first half of the season. Kemba Walker struggled in New York, while Jrue Holiday, Lonzo Ball and LaMelo Ball fell in the bottom tier.
As you go down the list, Young stands alone as the best point guard in the East right now and perhaps his only real opponents around the league are Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard , Luka Doncic and Ja Morant, who are quickly naming him alongside the tournament’s best point defenders. But when you look at the big picture, there’s no denying Young has every right to feel like a top five point guard and based on his numbers, a top 10 player isn’t too far off. .
