Trae Young hit another ‘game winner‘ yesterday against the League best Milwaukee Bucks.
Luka Doncic and Trae Young are garnering the most excitement for rookies since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony were introduced to the NBA in 2003. Doncic is emerging as a once-in-a-generation player while Trae Young looks to be the next superstar point guard, but who deserves the Rookie of the Year Award?
The pair of future All-Stars are in an epic battle for the ever-coveted award for the most excellent rookie. Doncic has been the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year for the majority of the year and it would seem impossible that he would even have a challenger considering his immeasurable talent, but Young also made his case for the award as the season progressed. Let’s break down whether Luka Doncic or Trae Young should win the Rookie of the Year Award.
The Stats
In statistics, the pair are dead even when considering statistical categories. Doncic leads Young in points per game, rebounds, and field goal percentage while Young leads Doncic in assists, three-point field goal percentage, and free throw percentage.
As scorers, both players have been extremely effective as rookies with Doncic averaging 21.1 points per game and Young averaging 18.9. Both players are above average in any shooting percentage which is admirable for a rookie. They both average at least 42% in field goal percentage, at least 32.7% percent in three-point field goal percentage, and at least 71% in free throw percentage. Doncic has a better field goal percentage (42.5% to 41.9%) and two-point field goal percentage (50% to 47%) while Young has a better three-point field goal percentage (33.7% to 32.7%) and free-throw percentage (82.1% to 70.9%).
The only difference would be the 2.2 points that Doncic is averaging more than Young which is probably because he plays shooting guard while Young plays point guard, but Young gets more assists (7.9 to 5.9). Doncic holds an extra stat on Young in rebounding (7.6 to 3.6). However, Young’s ability to get 7.9 assists a game holds a lot of weight because it is the 4th best assist per game total in the NBA. So, considering that Luka Doncic is a shooting guard that gets more points and Trae Young is a point guard that gets more assists, they are statistically even across the board.
Since they are even statistically, let’s consider their ability in the clutch. Both Doncic and Young rank high in the NBA in clutch statistics, especially for rookies. In the 4th quarter or overtime with less than five minutes left and with neither team ahead by more than five points, Doncic and Young are tied for 12th in the league with 109 total points with Doncic shooting 45% shooting while Young shooting 40%.
The two players are very close in comparison, but Doncic gets the edge for averaging more points, more rebounds, and better clutch scoring field goal percentage. Although, Young deserves a tremendous amount of credit for putting up a battle against one of the greatest talents we’ve seen in decades with Doncic.
It has certainly been one of the most exciting Rookie of the Year battles of recent years, and all signs point to Doncic winning the award. In the end, both players will likely be superstars.
