Trae Young

Lore & Background

Born on September 19, 1998, in Lubbock, Texas, Trae is the son of Candice and Rayford Young, who played basketball at Texas Tech and professionally in Europe. He has a younger brother and two younger sisters. Young also has an uncle who played college basketball in the NAIA. Trae was raised in Pampa, Texas, by his mother and paternal grandparents, as his father played basketball overseas.

Young attended Norman North High School in Norman, Oklahoma. In his sophomore year, he averaged 25 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds per game as he helped Norman North win the 2015 area championship and was named Oklahoma's Sophomore of the Year. During his junior year, he significantly improved his game, averaging 34.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists as he led the team to a 28–4 record, winning the regional title and placing second in the 2016 Oklahoma Class 6A championship game.

In his senior year, he averaged 42.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting at a 48.9% rate. Young was considered one of the best players in the 2017 recruiting class by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN. ESPN considered him the second-best point guard prospect that year, while the other websites considered him the third best. On February 16, 2017, Young committed to the Oklahoma Sooners.

He was the University of Oklahoma's first five-star recruit since Tiny Gallon in 2010. To begin the 2017–18 season, on November 12, Young recorded 15 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in a win over Omaha. Three days after his college debut, he recorded 22 points and a then season-high 13 assists in a win over Ball State. On November 26, Young recorded a season-high 43 points and seven assists in a 90–80 win over Oregon.

That game had his name draw multiple comparisons to Stephen Curry in terms of his playing style. On December 19, Young tied (with three others) the then-NCAA single-game assists record with 22, while also recording 26 points in a 105–68 win against Northwestern State. Throughout the season, Young rose from being a late first-round or a second-round pick to being a potential top-three pick for the 2018 NBA draft. He also garnered praise from both LeBron James and Stephen Curry for his season with Oklahoma.

In January, his individual defense was rated as "poor". He had a season-high 43 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists in a 102–97 overtime win over TCU on January 13.

Reader's Guide

On June 21, 2018, Young was selected with the fifth overall pick by his hometown team the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA draft, but was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, along with a protected future first-round pick in exchange for the rights to the third overall pick Luka Dončić. On July 1, 2018, Young officially signed with the Hawks. On October 21, in the Hawks' third game of the season, Young finished with a season-high 35 points and 11 assists in a 133–111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On November 19, Young finished with a then-career-high 17 assists, 25 points and three rebounds in a 127–119 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. On February 25, 2019, Young scored a then-career-high 36 points and made career high eight three-pointers in a 119–111 loss to the Houston Rockets. On February 27, Young recorded 36 points and 10 assists in a 131–123 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He then surpassed his season high two days later on March 1, putting up a then-career-high 49 points alongside 16 assists in a high-scoring 168–161 quadruple-overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.

On March 31, Young scored a game-winner and had 12 points and 16 assists against the first-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. He joined Dončić in a unanimous selection to the 2019 NBA All-Rookie First Team. On October 24, 2019, Young scored 38 points in a 117–110 season-opening win against the Detroit Pistons. On November 29, Young scored 49 points, including 21 points in the fourth quarter, in a 105–104 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers.

On January 23, 2020, he was selected for the NBA All-Star selection as a backcourt starter. On January 26, Young recorded 45 points and 14 assists in a 152–133 win against the Washington Wizards. Young wore No. 8 in the first eight seconds of the game in memory of Kobe Bryant, just hours after his death in a California helicopter crash. Four days later, he posted 39 points and a career-high 18 assists en route to a 127–117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

On February 9, Young registered 48 points and 13 assists in 47 minutes in a 140–135 double overtime win over the New York Knicks. On February 20, Young scored a career-high 50 points in a 129–124 win against the Miami Heat, hitting 8-of-15 three pointers. On February 19, 2020, Bleacher Report named Young the worst defensive point guard in the NBA.

Did You Know?

• He made his NBA playoff debut in 2021 with 32 points and 10 assists, joining LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Derrick Rose as the only players to do so.
• Young scored a playoff career-high 48 points in Game 1 of the 2021 Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.