Trae Young: Five reasons the ex-Sooner superstar will make it in the NBA

Trae Young: Five reasons the ex-Sooner superstar will make it in NBA

By Chip Rouse | May 21, 2018

CHICAGO, IL - MAY 18: Trae Young speaks with reporters during Day Two of the NBA Draft Combine at Quest MultiSport Complex on May 18, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

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LUBBOCK, TX – FEBRUARY 13: Trae Young #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners shoots the ball over Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the game on February 13, 2018 at United Supermarket Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Oklahoma 88-78. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

He is a shooter and a scorer

Trae Young is a shooter and a scorer, two attributes NBA teams like a lot. He has a quick release, which is difficult to defend and is very good from three-point range, especially when he is in rhythm.

Young averaged 44 points a game as a senior at Norman North High School, and led the nation in scoring as a college freshman at OU, averaging 27.4 points a game. That included four games in which he scored more than 40 points and nine or more than 30 points. He scored under 20 points, but still in double digits, in only seven of the Sooners’ 32 games.

If left alone behind the three-point line, Young can definitely hurt you, and the deeper three-point line in the NBA should not matter at all. Some of Young’s three-point bombs in college were close to 30 feet.

If you guard him to closely, he is liable to take you to the rack for a lay-up or get fouled in the process, and he is an excellent free-throw shooter.

His high-water mark in the scoring column last season was a 48-point performance in an overtime loss to Oklahoma State. His low point of the season was 11 points at Kansas.

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