There’s a 19-year-old basketball player who’s at a football school. He is quick as a lightning bug, has the self-confidence and ability to try absurdly long three-pointers could be called reckless if it weren’t the reason Oklahoma is a top-10 basketball team. So as soon as we saw, we compared. We compared to the only thing we’ve seen like this. Stephen Curry.
Trae is a 6-foot-2 and 180-pound true freshman, is averaging 30.3 points and 9.6 assists — both are more than any other player in the nation. He’s the best college guard we’ve seen since… I’m going to be honest I don’t know how to finish this sentence. He’s been the best. Is that hyperbole? I don’t think so.
Only one freshman has ever finished as college basketball’s scoring champion; two freshmen in history have led the nation in assists. Trae, 19 games in, is leading in both. What is more is how similar there game styles play. From effortless 30 footers to cross court one-handed whips – the two play fun efficient basketball.
Obviously the difference is we are talking can do vs projected to be able to do. Curry is the greatest shooter of all time – do we think Trae can get to that level?
From the highlights – it looks like it. But it’s not just the highlights. It’s the efficiency.
Trae Young leads the NCAA in:
Points per game
Assists per game
Points produced
Assist percentage
Offensive box/plus minus
He’s second in the NCAA in:
Offensive win shares
Win shares
Player efficiency rating
All while leading in usage! Trae Young has the ball on every single possession for the Sooners and he is piloting the 20th best offense in basketball at Oklahoma (!) For reference, without Trae Young last season the Sooners had the 250th ranked offense.
But it’s not just the absurd 30 footers.
The ridiculous passes are a plenty. He is the engine that runs the offense.
Other Sooners are flourishing with Young getting them the ball in better spots. Sophomore shooting guard Christian James is scoring at 12.7 points per game which is nearly five points higher than last season, and is shooting 50.7 percent from the field after a .363 mark last year. Senior forward Khadeem Lattin’s shooting percentage is up to 59.8 from 51.6, and most obviously, Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in scoring at 93.1 points per game, 20 points more than it averaged last season when it finished seventh in the 10-team conference.
He plays like Curry. He impacts the game like Curry. When Young on the floor, the geometry of the game is different, and conventional defense falls to the wayside. With the ball in his hands, Young will make decisions that keep defenders guessing and sometimes even surprise his teammates. He has every shot type. He is a 3 level scorer. There’s the pull-up 3 he’ll take any time it’s even remotely there, and there is a plethora of layup moves he can go to at the rim, but then he’s got great touch on his floater and knock down all mid range jumpers with ease. Some possessions it looks like he’s playing with the defense – just deciding which shot to go with.
From the evidence we have, if you want to call Trae Young “Steph 2” you won’t be arguing with me.
