NBA fans will be aware that there is a connection between Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. As we all know, both of them came into the league via the 2018 NBA draft and have proven themselves to be the faces of their respective franchises.
It would interest people to know that the Hawks were the ones to draft Luka and the Mavs drafted Trae. However, both franchises decided to swap trade picks. Thus, both young stars went to the team that we know they are a part of today.
While it is certainly up for debate as to which player has carried their team further over the past few years, Young was extremely confident about his skills even before playing in the NBA. Let us take a look at what he said and whether it is true.
Trae Young considered himself the best player in the 2018 NBA draft over Luka Doncic
Well, it turns out that Trae was extremely confident in his skills heading into the league. This would certainly make sense. Young is undoubtedly a talented shooter and can make three-pointers from the half-court line. That is something that very few players in the NBA are capable of doing. As a result, he has been compared to players like Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry.
As far as statistics go, Trae has averaged 25.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 9.3 assists throughout his NBA career. Additionally, he has shot 43.8% from the field, 35.1% from the three-point line, and 87.6% from the free-throw line.
Considering that Trae averaged 19 points and 8 assists in his first year, perhaps he was justified in boasting about his ceiling during the 2018 NBA draft, “I think I’m the best overall player in this draft…My main focus isn’t necessarily to be the best player in this draft. My focus is to be the best player in the NBA.”
We should credit Young for his confidence. However, at the same time, fans will certainly say that Luka Doncic has been the best player of the 2018 NBA draft class. After all, he has been averaging 27.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8 assists in his career.
During Luka’s first year in the league, he averaged 21.2 points 7.8 rebounds, and 6 assists. The numbers speak for themselves and seem to indicate that Doncic is the better player. Be that as it may, Baby Bird never made a statement insisting that he was the best player in his class. Instead, he let his game speak for itself and it has certainly done so over the years.
