I see a lot to like here tbh... Clearly is a willing passer who understands something our young guns don't: it's fun to throw lobs to talented bigs who run the court and get in position.
His shot selection is bad. Teams pack the paint and bait him into taking low percentage 3s. After the miss he neglets to run back for defense. Pop would likely prohibit him from taking any long balls till his shot selection evened out.
Unless there is a character or temperament issue (stubbornness, arrogance), those things are fixable.
Call me crazy but I could see a Wemby/Young being the second iteration of an Iverson/Mutombo build. A catch-all shotblocker is the pairing needed to optimize the game of the pint-sized, ball dominant guard. The weak defense of the guard baits people into driving into the shotblocker, while the shotblocker frees the guard up to gamble for steals and leak out for fast breaks.
Basically guards don't have to play perfect defense w/Wemby--just contest the three. It's almost a positive if they let someone by because then they've funneled the ball handler between themselves and Wemby.
If we could get him at a low cost it'd be a fun early career experiment with Wemby.
Trae is no Curry. He doesn't make others better. As long as they put another star next to him, Atlanta regressed. They went from 43-39, to 41-41 after the Murray trade and are 22-27 now, and that's after 4 game winning streak...
Trae just likes Trae, wouldn't match with Wemby. I don't see those two developing any kind of chemistry. Noises from Atlanta locker room are really not friendly to Young.
Last edited by JPB; 02-04-2024 at 05:00 PM.
You don't wanna make Wemby some second banana, no offensive game Mutombo to Trae, you wanna make Wemby your Iverson.
Not to mention that Iverson/Mutombo won ZERO rings.
At the old RINGZ! without context argument.
I could take or leave Young, but somehow 99% of superstars and stars aren't good enough in some form or fashion to play for the almighty Spurs or only are if they could be had for pennies on the dollar.
lol not wanting Trae
lol spurs fans thinking we can reject stars with our last place record
Lol wanting to keep another inferior chucker in Vassell
Excuse me, but since when is DJ considered a star?
Their issues are way deeper.
Started with Collins permanently ing up his finger and they couldn't find the balance since.
Could Trae have done better? Maybe, but he's proven that he's a good playoff performer and is willing to improve. Even though his defense will always be bad, he obviously put a lot of work into it.
He's the best realistic target Spurs can trade for.
No other wing that fits the timeline (let's say 26-27 or younger) is available or looks like will become available anytime soon.
Fwiw, keen Hawks observers claim Trae is not a bad defender anymore. There was a Locked On Hawks episode recently after the Lakers game where both the host and journalist guest agreed that Young is a better defender than Austin Reaves.
I've been up and down on wanting Young, but if he really isn't a horrible defender anymore then he's a lot more desirable, and considering he's tied for 8th in charges drawn suggests he's putting in the effort unlike traditional bad defenders like Forbes or Branham.
Seeing the two man game of Wemby and Jones ... That's good already, but with Trae it would be phenomenal. And I think Trae would probably be better for Vassell and the team as a whole by organizing things.
The drawbacks of a Trae centric offense and stagnation exist but it might be preferable to the stagnation of the Spurs offense now.
Anybody that says no to Trae coming here is literally a moron. We probably will never get a talent like that while Wemby is here. This isn't 1999 anymore, offense wins championships. Go get Trae whatever the cost is minus our pick this year. You're telling me if we have Trae and Wemby, other stars won't come running? Sooner you win, better off your odds are at Wemby staying long term. Nobody wants to stay with a franchise and win one ring, loyalty isn't there, rightfully so. Go get Trae.
Unfortunately it's not as simple as guard gets past man and gets funneled to Wemby... Almost everytime someone gets blown by in the NBA, the paint collapses and someone gets open for three... We see it ALL the time with our team... Secondly Trae has horrible efficiency in scoring AND passing... Pop doesn't ever try changing the habits of "stars"...LMA and DDR came and left with all their flaws intact... Tre Jones has an assist/turnover ratio twice as good as Trae Young... He is a better passer, it's just that Trae has the ball in his hands the entire time, so he has higher assist numbers... Wemby would get more lobs if Tre Jones held the ball in his hands the entire posession, but that style never develops anyone, and it wouldn't develop Wemby or any other young draft pick we get... It's a self-serving playstyle
Trae isn't a star... Never been good enough to be voted in by either fans or coaches... But certain Spurs fans wanna overlook his mediocre assist/turnover ratio and atrocious fg% because he has a few highlight threes and lobs at the expense of overall team growth and success
Trae is a mid offensive player... 43% and a mediocre assist/turnover ratio... Tre Jones is literally a better passer and finisher around the basket
We can't make wide open shots. A lot of people would love to play with Trae and Wemby. Parker wasn't a good defensive player, that turned out fine. Wemby and Trae pick and roll would be lethal, you can't cheat off that at all. I'm not saying he's a the best player in the NBA but he has balls, you need people with balls that deliver.
Trae
Vassell
Risacher
Sohan
Wemby
That's fun.
Tre Jones isn't the passer Trae Young is, not even close. We've all probably seen most of every single pass Jones has ever made as a professional and it can't compare to a random Young highlight reel.
Add to that the pull up threat. Jones in the two man game is limited by his non shooting. Is he getting his numbers better in spot up? Yes. But he's not a threat from three in the pick and roll. Despite that the Jones -Wemby combo is still good, but it would be potentially devastating with Young.
But of course there's drawbacks. The absurdly high turnovers. When he's cold, he's freezing cold. He's prone to getting on tilt and puking up bad shots. He doesn't seem to be popular with his teammates.
So there's pros and cons, the issue is what the cost would be. Because even if he didn't work out, he has an ETO after 2 more years, ending alongside Zollins, and you could probably move on and clear the cap if he left before any Wemby extension kicks in. And if he doesn't early terminate out, he's a $49 million expiring.
Whatever you think of Trae, hopefully you can rid yourself of the notion that Pop will change his bad habits. Pop hasn’t bothered changing Devin or Zach’s bad habits, why do we think he would do so with a star player? Pop was an asshole to Tony Parker and Danny Green, and that has given him this reputation of someone who can break a stallion and build him back up… but it’s not really the case, especially not in 2024.
Last edited by scott; 02-05-2024 at 12:44 AM.
I feel Trae tried to rush things a bit; not like Parker used to run the team, who doesnt waste any change to attack with points in mind everytime the offense is organised. you need someone who can control the pace and trigger the slow and fast pace as according to the scoreline
That roster regressed around trae. John Collins went from a low level star player ala Dejounte right now, to get shipped off for practically nothing.
If you think Trae is the reason they're not good, I don't know what to tell you, lol.
trae would be the best player on the team
dejounte would be the 3rd best player on the team
would rather have djm than trae but would welcome either with open arms if the price was right
Personally, i don't know if i can take Pops 10-year plan to get back to mediocre thru drafting. I wouldn't be opposed to shocking the system and jumpstarting this dead horse and getting Trae.
Despite his flaws, the Hawks have been a top 10 offense since after his second season and he's the main driver.
They had the #2 offense in 21-22, and the second leading scorer was John Collins at 16 points a game. They're still the #10 offense this year.
Trae Young offenses get points.
The team lack of success since the fluke ECF can't all be his fault, if anything it's the cheap ass owners who refused to ever pay the tax.
The last 2 years they've traded away 2 starting caliber players for cap relief, 1 lottery protected Kings pick that might convey starting this year and some seconds. They're also sold off picks for money.
Kevin Huerter (25mpg, 41 starts in 46 games this season)
John Collins (28pm, 44 starts in 46 games this season)
2 starters from that #2 offense in 21-22 ECF team were under contract and just given away for nothing until that Kings pick arrives.
Wemby as a rookie is light years better than any of Young's other teammates and I include Murray on that list. , Vassell might next on the list.
Excellent post. Young and Wemby would be special on offense together and would redefine Lob City.
So go for Curry
The options if your out on Trae Young:
- Sit through Pop's 10 year plan which includes more Tre Jones as the main PG for the foreseeable future
- Beat the odds again and get a top2 pick this year to draft Topic (not likely), who may or may not be the answer anyway
- Pray that Sheppard/Castle/Dillingham/Collier work out when we don't get Topic
- Hope that Donovan Mitc refuses to extend with the Cavs in the offseason and says yes to a Spurs trade (good luck with that)
- Trade for or sign a vet PG that doesn't do much for our future other than eat cap space
The only realistic path forward is overpaying a vet PG in the offseason which at best adds depth but doesn't move the needle at all. Everything else requires more luck. We're all aware of how weak the draft is this year. One look at the free agent pool this next offseason and you'll see that there's honestly not much to look forward to.
Trae Young is an all star level player that, while not without glaring weaknesses, checks ALOT of boxes for someone that would compliment Wemby. Spurs would also finally have a real iden y and can start the next part of building the team. It's fair to point out that he may stunt Wemby's growth into basically a lob hunter (we don't even know, I suspect Wemby is getting a greener light than that regardless if Trae was here). However, to just hard pass on Trae like some of the people here are saying (again, wtf is the plan then?) is crazy to me.
Trae isn't as good of a passer as you think he is, nor is he as good of a scorer...ppl are blinded by highlights and don't take impact into account...
this video talks of certain things, including his own teammates having issue with his play style....and you don't think Wemby will as an Alpha? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWIUXqI52E0
It's a big risk for sure. On the one hand, Trae's talent is undeniable and he can drive good offense. His defense has even gotten better this year and he would definitely be the best teammate Wemby has played with by far.
On the other hand, we know from history that superstar trades don't always work out the way we think. Especially established ball dominant guys who either have to fit into an entirely new system or have a lot of players fit to them. The Luka-Porzingis example is a really good one just because of the similarities in playstyle between Trae and Luka as well as the similarities between Wemby and Porzingis. For those more familiar with the mavs, do we know why that never worked out? Other example is Dame on the Bucks. Losing Holiday was big for the Bucks, but I don't think Dame has been anywhere near what they hoped either both from an offensive and defensive standpoint.
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