Luka Doncic vs Trae Young
The moment Atlanta and Dallas pulled off this draft day trade to swap these highly coveted guards, the comparisons were bound to be made.
The Hawks were enamoured with the prospect of a Steph-Curry-like shooter with amazing scoring ability. He’s a fearless player when launching from long-range, leading to his apt nickname “Ice Trae” and an elite distributor, pretty much the epitome of what you want to build around at the PG position in the modern NBA.
The fact is, the Hawks weren’t wrong in what they believed Trae Young was capable of, he’s been sensational. In just his 2nd season he’s putting up some amazing numbers; he’s 7th in the NBA in scoring at 26.6ppg, 3rd in assists at 8.7apg, and 13th in threes at 3.1 makes per game. Just 16 games into his second season he’s already had eight 30+ point games and regularly hovers around the 10-assist mark.
Normally landing a player like Trae Young would be a slam dunk and a feather in the cap for any GM able to pull it off. Unfortunately for the Hawks, that does not appear to be the case here.
Luka Doncic is currently in uncharted territory with the numbers he is putting up on a nightly basis at such a young age. His professional career started when he was just 16, and while still a teenager, he became the youngest ever Euroleague MVP and led the league in Performance Index Rating. This success has carried over to the NBA level as he was a near-unanimous rookie of the year.
He’s the 2nd fastest player in NBA history to reach 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists (the fastest was Oscar Robertson), with Doncic achieving the feat in just 88 games.
Doncic is also the youngest player ever to record 30 points and 10 assists in 3 straight games. As a rookie he was the youngest player ever to record 3 triple doubles. He’s now the 2nd youngest player to have a 40-point triple double (Lebron James was the youngest).
He has a chance to repeat a feat that only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have done before, as he’s just 0.2 assists per game off averaging a triple double this season. Perusing his game log reveals how much upside he has as a complete player:
Looking at a head to head comparison statistically, here is how the numbers stack up so far between Doncic and Young:
The hype around Doncic is electric right now, and it seems completely warranted as he is delivering ridiculous numbers on a nightly basis. Doncic is now tied for 2nd favourite for MVP with James Harden at $5.50 odds, with many speculating that Doncic could even be the frontrunner right now if Dallas can finish the regular season with a top 3 seed in the Western Conference.
It is still very early in both player’s careers and the sky is the limit for both players, but right now the clear edge goes to Doncic. Head to PlayUp to bet on Doncic to win the MVP.
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