Trae Young enters NBA draft

[TulsaWorld]

Here's what Lon Kruger said in an interview earlier today...

“Last spring we probably would have expected (multiple seasons),” OU coach Lon Kruger told the Tulsa World. “I think even the family expected that, at least. But when he did what he did in November and December from a production standpoint, that changed quickly. It was pretty obvious it was going to be one year instead of two.”

...

“We didn’t really talk much about it (during the season),” Kruger said. “It was just kind of understood. It wasn’t like we talked about it weekly or anything. Just from a common sense standpoint, it was clearly the thing he was going to do.”

...

“He has the opportunity through his play, especially early on when he blew up nationally and garnered all that attention, well-deserved,” Kruger said. “He positioned himself to be a lottery pick. It’s a logical, smart thing to do.”

 

[SoonerBred]

Here's what Lon Kruger said in an interview earlier today...

Translating for Lon, " once we saw the team turned inside-out to promote Trae Yoing's draft stock we decided it was best for both parties that he move on."

 

[BoulderSooner]

Translating for Lon, " once we saw the team turned inside-out to promote Trae Yoing's draft stock we decided it was best for both parties that he move on."

not remotly .... more like we would have loved for him to stay one more year and some of his teammate to be more unselfish

 

[WTSooner]

I agree. He'll get better by going to the NBA & I think it was the right decision. The only reason his stock would've rose is because this draft class is really good & next years is supposed to be weak.

Yes. I too agree it was the right decision, but there is a decent chance he could be drafted higher next year. This is potentially a really deep draft at the top. It's why my Celtic's did everything they could to try and get a pick or two at the top of it. I don't know about next year, but I'm guessing there are fewer guys at the top of the class.

 

[TINY]

Translating for Lon, " once we saw the team turned inside-out to promote Trae Yoing's draft stock we decided it was best for both parties that he move on."

Lmao. Wrong. Lon would have loved for him to come back.

Lon has never said anything but great things about Trae. In fact, I’ve never heard anyone, including teammates, say anything less than positive about Trae.

Some people are just haters, and they like to make **** up out of thin air.

 

[WTSooner]

not remotly .... more like we would have loved for him to stay one more year and some of his teammate to be more unselfish

lol, what? TY took 30% of the team's shots, even more if you were to factor in shots that lead to FT attempts. I'd say his teammates were plenty unselfish.

Maybe they didn't make enough open shots, but I certainly didn't see much unselfish play from the guys that would watch Trae jack up contested 30 footers 7 seconds into the possession.

 

[opsooner]

Don't feel jilted, just think it makes his dad look like a liar. This decision was already made before the NCAA tourney, and yet his dad is going out of his way to make it look like he wanted Trae to at least consider staying. He never wanted that. No need to make those comments.

Did you listen to his last interview? He really did make it sound like he only said the part about potentially staying because he didn’t want to announce anything immediately.

Anyway, I don’t have much hope for next year at this point but will feel good if we play team ball and improve throughout the year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[152219]

Trae Young had the highest assist rate in the country.

Yes, rate.

 

[OUSKINS]

My take on TY’s “legacy” here and his NBA prospects:

1. His time here feels a little empty. A little meh. Not his fault (or at least mostly not his fault). We didn’t accomplish much as a team this year and we didn’t hang any banners of any kind. And due to the complete collapse down the stretch, I think the PR return was also probably more negative than positive. Our prospects for next year look bleak. Things just didn’t work out very well on the OU side. It’s hard to become a real fan favorite if you are one and done unless something awesome happens in that one year. For two months it did, then a massive crash. Unfortunately I think TY will always be associated with that crash.

2. He’s probably making a good choice. Seems like he is a lock for the lottery (back half most likely). I think he could improve his stock a little by coming back, but if things go south again he could even drop some. I could make an argument that he should have come back to mature his game a bit, but all in all, this is probably his best decision.

3 I think TY’s upside and downside are massive. Total opposite of Buddy. With Buddy I felt his ceiling as an NBA player was pretty low, but I also felt he had little chance to be a bust. I always felt Buddy was likely to have a very solid career in the NBA, but nowhere near all star level. More likely a guy that will bounce around. With TY, I think the ceiling is much higher (maybe as high as Steve Nash), but I could also see him being a bust. He’s small. And he isn’t a great athlete. He will be able to get a step on guys, but he is NOT explosive at the rim like Russ or Wall or Wade or other guys who play bigger than they are. Shot blockers abound in the NBA, and I could see him really struggling to finish once he gets past his defender. I also think he will be a terrible, terrible defender early on at least. He wasn’t good in college. The PGs in the NBA are gonna eat his lunch. I do think he can be a great shooter— and he also sees the floor extremely well. I think TY could be anything from a star to a bust to a solid backup PG. He is a risk, but a risk with a potential reward. He would benefit going somewhere where he can come off the bench his rookie year.

 

[152219]

Trae Young | PG | Oklahoma

28 points (9-for-18 FG), 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 turnovers in 39 minutes in a loss to Rhode Island

Young had a solid showing in what will likely be his final college basketball game, halting what has been a concerning slide over the past 15 games in which his production and effort level had dropped off dramatically.

Young showed how high his offensive skill level is against an array of tough Rhode Island defenders, doing a nice job of blending his passing and scoring and looking fairly under control for most of the contest. His ballhandling, court vision and shot making were particularly impressive. As usual, he didn't get much support from his teammates, as quite a few good looks he created were not converted into points, which made it somewhat understandable why he felt the need to go into gunner mode down the stretch, a move that got OU back into the game in regulation but led to some bad moments in overtime.

Many of the issues that scouts have nitpicked about Young all year were on full display, including his porous defense, his inability to finish inside the paint and his at-times questionable shot selection, but there's little doubting his overall talent and fit in today's NBA.

Looking forward: Young's late-season struggles combined with excellent finishes by Collin Sexton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have made for an interesting debate about this point guard class. All three appear to be firmly in the mid- to late-lottery or mid-first round at worst. Workouts, team needs and stylistic preferences will likely help separate them over the course of the pre-draft process. -- Givony

 

[BoulderSooner]

lol, what? TY took 30% of the team's shots, even more if you were to factor in shots that lead to FT attempts. I'd say his teammates were plenty unselfish.

Maybe they didn't make enough open shots, but I certainly didn't see much unselfish play from the guys that would watch Trae jack up contested 30 footers 7 seconds into the possession.

not on the court all the time but sometime yes certain players were total ball stoppers and did not try to make the extra pass to open teammates ... off the court is a different matter all together

 

[Northbase]

Congrats to TY and the Young family! Best wishes on a long NBA career!

This. Best to him. Sooner for life.

 

[TulsaWorld]

From Guerin Emig:

NBA athletes will be able to play him honestly, straight up, with officials more careful to keep defenders like West Virginia’s Carter from clutching and grabbing. He’ll benefit from less help-side defense and more floor spacing on offense.

Young will have teammates who can both catch his showman’s passes and do something with them. He’ll have shooters who can knock down open looks he presents them, and finishers who can rise above the rim as the Sooners could, and then put the ball through it as the Sooners too often could not.

One of the sneaky cool things about Young’s freshman season was watching him skip-hop as a teammate rose to finish his lob pass. It stopped happening toward February. It will be nice to see it again.

It will be nice to see Young play ball without the weight of his world bearing down.

 

[coolm]

I agree with emig.

Trae's game will get back to as it should be when he has teammates able to finish. Hopefully he will trust them more and start to open up.

I think he's got a lot more in him than we've even seen. Still see lots of times when he's about to throw someone open and he lays off. When he gets targets he trusts and who have exceptional abilities he's gonna do amazing things.

 

[152219]

I agree with emig.

Trae's game will get back to as it should be when he has teammates able to finish. Hopefully he will trust them more and start to open up.

I think he's got a lot more in him than we've even seen. Still see lots of times when he's about to throw someone open and he lays off. When he gets targets he trusts and who have exceptional abilities he's gonna do amazing things.

I think you used a word that I've held back using for some time is that by the end of the season Young didn't fully trust his teammates and that hurt the team. And to be honest, everyone is to blame for that.

 

[hoopsaustin]

LOL, I called it that before anybody else here did, so don't give me that.

I just don't think it was something the guy needed to say over and over and over, including literally 24-48 hours before Trae announced. Just keep your mouth shut. Everybody wants their minute of fame. I get sick of it.

Then you don't understand the concept... everyone does it and it goes on in every sport do i don't get why youre butthurt and calling people liars like a kid that didnt get his happy meal ha

 

[hoopsaustin]

I think you used a word that I've held back using for some time is that by the end of the season Young didn't fully trust his teammates and that hurt the team. And to be honest, everyone is to blame for that.

Wrong. Some of his turnovers he trusted his teammates too much.. like passing to Lattin... turnover like 60% of the time ha

 

[TulsaWorld]

We've been writing about Trae Young since naming him our state player of the year back in 2016, so Cody Stavenhagen compiled a timeline with links and quotes here.

 

[soonerdanny]

I think TY could be anything from a star to a bust to a solid backup PG.

Really going out on a limb there.

 

[SoonerBred]

Lmao. Wrong. Lon would have loved for him to come back.

Lon has never said anything but great things about Trae. In fact, I’ve never heard anyone, including teammates, say anything less than positive about Trae.

Some people are just haters, and they like to make **** up out of thin air.

Haha, and all the politicians also never lie. Only positive thoughts about all their fellow congressmen.