NBA 2018-19 Player Comparisons: Luka Doncic vs Trae Young - Who will win The ROY?

Fit with the franchise and Rookie of the Year

New Orleans Pelicans v Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic

At 6-foot-8 and 228 pounds, Doncic has been one of the most talked about stars in the NBA. He is a teenager (turned 20 recently) in the body of a grown man. Doncic is not an elite athlete, but he knows how to use his size to get where he wants to go on the court.

Doncic is also an elite passer, not unlike his rival Trae, and needs it, along with his outside shooting, to create driving lanes for himself as he is not a very athletic player. He has also become the cornerstone of this Dallas Mavericks franchise and has made it so that him showing up on a given night changes whether the team wins or not.

His next best teammate in Kristaps Porzingis is injured, so he has to do it all on his own. Doncic has fit exceptionally well into this franchise and has made it his own, so much so that they are looking for players to surround around him rather than making him switch his game.

The 2019 offseason is one which the Mavericks will look to surround Doncic and Porzingis with another solid star player as their bench and other role players look poised to play better as they grow from one season to the next.

Trae Young

The Atlanta Hawks are known as the Golden State Warriors of the Eastern Conference, having gotten a reputation of drafting players that fit the modern philosophy of the game which the Warriors have brought along.

Trae Young fits this philosophy perfectly as well. The 6 foot 2 guard is one of the smallest in the NBA but has shown flashes of some elite level of scoring. His 3 point range is as far as you want it to be, he is hitting 28 feet shots with really good accuracy.

His passing is also at an elite level and he is creating really great looks for his teammates, making life easier for both himself and his teammates. The Hawks have become a really solid team ever since the All-Star Break, with Young on a year.

His most able teammate has been John Collins, who as a forward, spaces the floor as well, creating driving lanes for Trae to exploit. An able shooting guard like Kevin Huerter has also helped increase floor spacing for them. They look like a team ready to push for the playoffs soon, irrespective of the offseason this year.

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Final Verdict

Even though Luka Doncic seems to be a bit more talented and more physically dominant than Trae Young, Young's skills on the ball and his 3 point shooting is something that Doncic is currently unable to match at a consistent level.

Young's franchise has already surrounded him with a bunch of role players and players who are developing into future stars that may end up defining what this franchise will do and where they finish.

Doncic is still very much the only fit player for the Mavericks that has been performing for them on a nightly basis. Porzingis has been out for the season and his Achilles injury is a very difficult one to recover from. The Mavericks need to do a lot to make sure Doncic is surrounded by players that he can lead to a title.

As far as the discussions for Rookie of the Year are concerned, Doncic's performances in the start of the season, which led the Mavericks into playoff spots, before a trade for Porzingis hampered their ambitions. Doncic has still performed at an elite level, surpassing all expectations set for him.

His readiness for the game at the NBA level was underestimated and while Trae has performed really well for Hawks, being an elite facilitator as well as a top quality scoring option for them, there are a few more loopholes in his game than in Doncic's game.

Trae Young has shown the ability to take over the game in the dying moments of the game and come up clutch for the Hawks and putting them over the finish line, something Doncic has shown flashes of, but has not made it a part of his game yet. Still, Luka Doncic deserves to win the Rookie of the Year award.