Atlanta Hawks rookie guard Trae Young, he of the electronic billboard announcement on Centennial Olympic Park Drive, had a rough debut last night at the Utah Summer League. Young was 4-20 from the field and did not make a shot during the first half of the game. Despite that fact, there were plenty of pros to go along with some cons for the Hawks during a game that will have no bearing on the coming season and Young’s career but is a sign of what is clearly a rebuild from the ground up.

Pros:

  • Young had three assists and did not seem to be bothered by his shooting performance.
  • Despite being double-teamed on a number of occassions he was more than able to get the shots he wanted to take. That bodes well for a player that will most certainly be the focus of defenses during his rookie season.
  • The Hawks players on the court with Young played like they tursted his decision-making, whether good or bad, and that says a lot about the future floor leader of this team.

Cons:

  • Young took 20 shots to get 16 points. That’s never good in any situtaion, summer league, regualr season or playoffs.
  • The Hawks Summer League team lost by 15 points to a Memphis team that should not be better than them by that many points under any circumstances.
  • The team shot 8-29 from three, showing that what was once a strength is now, at least for the moment, a weakness.

The Hawks will play Spurs Tuesday afternoon.

Atlanta Hawks rookie point guard Trae Young (on gorund) had a rough debut on Monday in loss to Memphis at Utah Summer League but came back to ultimately be named to the Summer League second team. Photo credit: NBA.com
Atlanta Hawks rookie point guard Trae Young (on gorund) had a rough debut on Monday in loss to Memphis at Utah Summer League but came back to ultimately be named to the Summer League second team. Photo credit: NBA.com

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Donnell began his career covering sports and news in Atlanta nearly two decades ago. Since then he has written for Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Southern Cross...

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