Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs.
However, nobody expected them to make it this far.
The Hawks came into the postseason as the fifth seed and did not have home-court advantage in any series.
Instead of being an easy out, they turned in a miraculous run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The leader of this run was their franchise player, Young.
This was Young’s third year in the league, but he has been in the public eye since his draft night.
Around the NBA community, they have critiqued every aspect of his game and ability for future success.
Now that this playoff run has concluded; it might be a good time to highlight what Young proved to all of us during this year’s postseason run.
3. More Than Just The Numbers
Since his rookie year, Young has put up phenomenal numbers.
In his second year in the league, he averaged 29.6 points and 9.3 assists per game.
This year saw a slight decrease on his points, but he was still putting up crazy numbers.
However, the Hawks were not successful in those first two years.
People wondered if he was just a guy that can have great statistical numbers, but can’t translate that into winning.
We have seen those players before in NBA history.
They are able to score in bunches and might even make an All-Star team a few times, but will never win in the playoffs.
Young shut all of that down during this run.
Not only did he win in the playoffs, but he was still able to produce the same numbers that he has in the regular season.
Players in NBA history to average 28+ PPG and 9+ APG in a single playoff run (min 15 games):
— LeBron James in 2018
— Trae Young in his first playoffs pic.twitter.com/vxHikeUGec— StatMuse (@statmuse) July 4, 2021
Young is more than just great stats.
He is a great player in general and can win while accumulating great stats.
2. He Is A Winner
Going to the playoffs was an accomplishment in its own right.
The Hawks looked like a lottery team once again until they fired their head coach at the time, Lloyd Pierce.
That is when they became a playoff team.
However, no one thought they could win more than a round, if that.
Young went into New York and took down the Knicks.
He went into Philadelphia and eliminated the number-one seed 76ers.
The man was on a mission to lead this team to a spot that nobody could even fathom.
He is not done yet.
Young truly believes that this was just the beginning.
We’ll be back.. 🖤ATL #WeMove pic.twitter.com/9GLCVsjL9u
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) July 4, 2021
There were questions about his ability to lead a winning team.
Well, he has debunked all of those theories and has proven that he is a winner.
1. The Luka Doncic Trade Is Even
The 2018 NBA Draft will go down in history.
One of the biggest trades of this generation occurred.
This trade will play a big role in the next era of the NBA.
The Hawks traded Luka Doncic, after taking him with the third pick, to the Dallas Mavericks to select Young.
Most people have looked at that trade as being a big win for the Mavericks.
Doncic has been a generational talent and is already on a historic pace.
The Hawks had a great talent, but he was not on the level of Doncic.
However, this playoff performance by Young has shown that the trade is even.
Doncic might be great, but Young is not a bad player to have it seems.
They made it farther than the Mavericks and Young is ready to do it again.
This trade does not have a winner.
Instead, it is an even trade that the Hawks should be happy to live with.
NEXT: Why Hawks Were Able To Win Without Trae Young