Trae Young burst onto the scene in college basketball early on. He drew many comparisons to Stephen Curry because of his ability to shoot three’s and carry his team to victories. Oklahoma was one of the top ranked teams in the country and Young was running away with the Naismith Player of the Year award.
Things have quickly gone south for Young and the Sooners. The Sooners are losers of six straight and have fallen out of the top 25. As for Young, he has received chants of “overrated” from crowds when he goes on the road. But the question remains, is Young overrated? The answer is yes.
Trae Young Might be Overrated
February Blues
The month of February has not been kind to Young. His team has a record of 0-6 and he has been ice cold from the field. Young is shooting 33.6% (38-113) from the field and 19.6% (11-56) from three during this losing streak. Despite averaging 8.1 assists during that time, he is turning the ball over 4.8 times per game.
Oklahoma is currently eighth in the Big 12 with a 6-9 record in conference, 16-11 overall. They are ranked third in the country averaging 87 PPG, but they are giving up a remarkable 82.8 PPG, which is 339th in the nation.
The Sooners have lost three straight games by double digits including a 104-74 waxing at Kansas. They finish up with Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State. If they want to make it into the tournament before it is too late, those are three must win games.
Steph Curry or Jimmer Fredette?
Young has been getting compared to Curry, but his stats along with his NBA potential might be closer to former BYU star Jimmer Fredette.
During his final season at BYU, Fredette averaged 28.9 PPG while shooting 45.2% from the field and 39.6% from three. He attempted 20.7 shots per game, 8.5 of them being from deep. Compare those numbers to the season Young is having. The freshman is averaging 28.3 PPG and shooting 42.7% from the field and 36.6% from deep. Young is attempting 19.6 shots per game which includes 10.2 from three.
While Curry put up similar numbers at Davidson, there are some glaring differences.
Young in the NBA
Curry stands 6’3 while Young is listed at 6’2, but appears to barely be 6 feet tall. Also, Curry is great at creating his own shot and getting it off quickly. Young is not nearly as good of a ball handler and will have trouble getting a shot off quickly in the NBA because of where he releases it from.
Being only 19 years old works to Young’s advantage because there is plenty of time to grow as a player and maybe even grow. One area where the Sooner product excels is getting to the free throw line. Young is averaging 9.1 free throw attempts per game and is shooting 85.8% when there.
Conclusion
Young is currently projected on everyone’s mock draft to be a top 10 selection. But if teams are looking for a player to come in and make an immediate impact, they might want to look elsewhere.
The word overrated does not mean bad. Young is having an impressive season and has shown signs of being the next big thing. Recent struggles, team success and performance down the stretch of games will say otherwise. He is already being advertised as a can’t miss NBA prospect and that is not the case. So, when crowds rain down on Young with chants of “overrated,” they are just speaking the truth.
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