The discussion around end of year accolades for the 2022 NBA regular season has reached its breaking point. On any given day, the Most Valuable Player argument is redefined based on personal preference, although it is worth noting that there are three great candidates this year with Denver center, Nikola Jokic, Milwaukee forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo, & Philadelphia center, Joel Embiid. Yet, traditionalism continues to limit All-NBA selections.
In theory, the All-NBA question seems to be an easy one: who are the 15 best players in the league? Seems simple enough, but when put into practice, the selection process becomes very finicky. Voters are forced into an out-dated system that necessitates positional classifications, something that was certainly more relevant when the NBA was a different product and game. In the modern NBA, positions are fluid. Sometimes a team’s wing handles the ball and serves as their primary facilitator and sometimes it can be the traditional point guard in terms of stature and size.
Regardless, until a rule change is instituted, positions STILL matter. As The Ringer reported a couple days ago, those who receive votes are given the following guideline when it comes to their selections: “Please vote for the player at the position he plays regularly.”
So without further ado, allow me to make the case for Hawks guard, Trae Young, and his unequivocal claim to making an All-NBA selection. To begin, I would like to list some season averages for three players that play point guard, without revealing who they are:
Player X —
27.4 ppg
5.7 rpg
6.7 apg
57.5 TS%
Player Y —
28.4 ppg
3.7 rpg
9.7 apg
60.3 TS%
Player Z —
25.5 ppg
5.2 rpg
6.3 apg
60.1 TS%
The way Young is talked about in the national NBA discourse is that he will be fighting to crack even the All-NBA third-team, which would make you think that maybe he is “Player Z” in the listing above. Instead ‘Ice Trae’ is “Player Y,” and if we were to make evaluations on numbers alone, he would be a lock for at least the second-team. To provide some more context for Young’s averages, he is the league leader in total points and assists (2,155 total points and 737 total assists, respectively), which is a feat that has not been accomplished since “Tiny” Nate Archibald did so in 1973.
Add in the fact that Young played 76 games this season compared to Memphis guard, Ja Morant’s 57, and Golden State guard, Steph Curry’s 64, points to an underrated skill which is his availability. I bring up both Morant and Curry not as an indictment on either players’ season (Morant was been playing out of his mind this season and Memphis is a real threat to make it out the West, while Curry was an MVP-candidate before he went down with injury), but to point out that the discourse for All-NBA seems to heavily favor both players in comparison to Young, despite the primary thing separating the three which is team success.
Numbers aside, Young is the clear engine of the NBA’s second-best offense (116.5 ppg) and does so with a roster of players who have largely regressed since last season. There is not a more offensively impactful guard in the league outside of Young, which brings us to a major point of contention when it comes to the debate surrounding his All-NBA candidacy…defense.
The major knock on Young’s ability as a player is his inability to guard on the ball and a lack of attention to detail when it comes to off-ball defense. These critiques are fair considering the eye-test would demonstrate that Young is prone to falling asleep off the ball, and his physical limitations make him a target on the defensive end, as well. However, I think these defensive knocks have been overblown, at least relative to other All-NBA candidates. Morant, Utah guard, Donovan Mitchell, Phoenix guard, Devin Booker, and Dallas guard, Luka Doncic, all range from poor to average defenders, while their offensive impacts do not match what Young has done this season. The gap between Young and, say a, Donovan Mitchell, on defense is much smaller than their corresponding offensive differences.
While I do not think that Young will ever be a plus-defender, the Hawks rely on him to power their offense through steady diets of pick-and-roll. Accordingly, unless the team brings in a quality playmaker to get him moving off-ball, Young will continue to conserve his energy on defense because he is relied upon to do so much on the offensive side of the floor.
I am not trying to make the case that Young missing out on first-team All-NBA would be a massive injustice, I think second-team makes the most sense given that the team has been underwhelming when it comes to the wins column. While team success should not necessarily be the end-all be-all, it should have some weight when it comes to those first five selections. The point I am trying to make is that it would be an injustice for Young to miss out on any All-NBA selection as a whole.
Let us not forget, that this All-NBA selection is a $35 million-decision by the voters for Young. If Young is to make any of the three All-NBA team’s, he will hit the escalator on his super-max contract that will see him get paid from $175 million to $208 million. For a guy that just accomplished something that has not been done since 1973, I think it is safe to say Young had a historic season, and deserves a slot.
Let us know what you guys think. Does Trae Young deserve an All-NBA selection? If not, who deserves it over him? Comment below…
