Trae Young hasn't played yet for the Washington Wizards. Frankly, for draft pick reasons, it's hard to see him playing much at all the rest of this season.
It's just a weird aftermath to a trade that some saw coming but also developed quickly, when the Atlanta Hawks traded Young to the Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, no draft picks involved, basically just dumping Young for expiring contracts.
With Young not playing, there's only so much to be analyzed, but ESPN's Tim Bontemps took a quick look back at the first half of the season in a new article on Friday, and for the Hawks, he focused on Young.
The general feeling on Young's lack of value has had mostly to do with his defense. He's just small and thin, not particularly able to slow down anyone at that end of the floor.
But Bontemps called out a different truth: The Hawks' offense was no good with Young this season, either.
"Much was made of Young's awkward fit in Atlanta before he was traded to the Wizards last month," Bontemps wrote. "But while the team's defense had cratered in the limited minutes Young has played this season, his offensive impact couldn't be denied. With the elite facilitator off the court this season -- he played just 10 games because of right leg injuries -- the Hawks' offense ranked 25th in the NBA."
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Young entered the league as a deep shooter with impressive passing ability.
But as his career has gone on, he's actually become a less efficient scorer, which has limited his overall offensive impact.
Young still has strong court vision, but you really need a system specifically designed around Young's strengths to help him reach optimal value.
Atlanta didn't need that anymore, in large part because of the emergence of Jalen Johnson. Whether or not the Wizards ever get to figure that out remains to be seen.
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