10 Top Prospects In This Year's NBA Draft (Part 1)

#7 Trae Young (University of Oklahoma Sooners)

Trae Young is a once in a generation offensive talent

The University of Oklahoma is another which has a basketball program living in the shadow of a great American Football team. While the Sooners are a go-to name in the world of American Collegiate Football, boasting of numerous Bowl Wins and CFB Championship appearances, the Basketball team has, in the past decade and a half, emerged as a force to be reckoned with in its own right.

Oklahoma Basketball now regularly competes in the NCAA tournament and went as far as the Final Four as recently as 2016. Since the turn of the decade, they have progressed to the Elite Eight thrice and have advanced further 2 times. Moreover, in a conference as competitive as the Big 12, they have Conference Tournament Titles in 2000, 01 and 02 to boast of as well.

Next in a long line of superstar players to come out of the University of Oklahoma is Trae Young. He follows a hallowed list of athletes that include Blake Griffin, Buddy Hield and Terry Stotts. Young is certainly not short on confidence before the draft, going on to say:

"I think I'm the best overall player in the NBA draft. My main focus isn't to be necessarily the best player in the draft, It's to be the best player in the NBA."

Expectations from Young are unreal and he has been regularly compared to Steph Curry due to his playing style. But, according to him, he relishes the comparisons, saying that it motivates him to perform at a higher level. As mentioned, he is certainly not short on confidence. The first thing that stands out when you consider Trae Young is his shooting. He has amazing range and regularly knocks down threes from well beyond the arc. He made 10 triples in a game versus TCU and drained 8 threes in two other contests.

He is a truly gifted scorer as well - averaging a crazy 27 PPG statline. He actually led the country in scoring. Young also has enviable playmaking skills which complement his scoring. In his one season at Oklahoma, he averaged 8.7 assists per game, showing remarkable awareness of floor positioning and a propensity for assist creation. Young has a tendency to draw fouls as well. This has the dual advantage of putting skilled opponents into foul trouble, restricting their minutes, and scoring off of free throws. He attempted 8.6 free throws per game last season.

However, doubts arise when his size is considered. at 6'2" and 82 Kg, Young is certainly not physically imposing. As a result, his ability to drive to the rim is compromised. His drives are regularly blocked by Center players and he can get outmuscled by longer perimeter defenders in the NBA. Moreover, he is turnover prone. This might be a consequence of two factors:

1) The game plan of rival teams centered around getting the ball away from the hands of Young, by far the most threatening scorer for his team.

2) The game plan at Oklahoma centered around Young as well and he got a lot of the ball due to the team's offense flowing through him. Consequently, he saw a lot more of the ball and through sheer increased possession, chances of turnovers also increased.

Lastly, Young needs to improve drastically on the defensive end. While he is gifted at scoring, he still needs to defend well in order to be able to play major minutes for any NBA franchise.

The fact that a player of Young's caliber is 7th on this list is a testimony to the potential that is oozing through in this year's draft class. Come draft day, don't be surprised if you see his name called in the Top 5.