Would the Trae Young Led Kings Actually Be a Better Team?

According to Grant Afseth, who covers the NBA for multiple outlets, the Kings have already had conversations with the Hawks about bringing Young. It sounds like those talks have stalled, and there isn’t any concrete momentum, but the idea of bringing in Trae Young is very interesting. 

“While Sacramento has interest in Garland, multiple league sources told RG that the Atlanta Hawks have spoken with the Kings on a potential trade framework centered around Trae Young in recent weeks. However, those talks have since stalled.”

For now, let’s assume the Kings do make a Sabonis for Young deal and the rest of the team stays relatively the same. Would the team actually be better?

Let’s talk defense first. The biggest problem with Trae defensively isn’t a lack of effort or skill, it’s size. There are a bunch of other star guards that aren’t great defenders, but when it comes to guys like Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson, and Tyrese Haliburton, their size and/or strength allows them to switch onto a bigger player if absolutely necessary.

Trae, on the other hand, just isn’t a switchable player. Cleaning the Glass shows that opponents shoot better, score more, grab more offensive rebounds, and shoot more free throws when Young is on the court, and a lot of that has to do with Young’s positional size.

LaVine, Sacramento’s other starting guard, is a slightly below-average defender at his best, and at his worst, he’s a trainwreck. Young is about the same level, so how would these two possibly make it work together?

In my opinion, it’s not even worth thinking about; it just wouldn’t work at all. Similar to the issues with starting Monk next to LaVine, Trae’s lack of defensive flexibility causes so many issues. Sacramento would need to avoid any switching when Trae is involved in the action, which would put so much pressure on Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis as the two plus defenders on the court.

LaVine should be able to be more of a “switchable” defender, but he hasn’t shown anything there in his 11 years in the league. In 483 minutes together, Monk and LaVine had a 120 defensive rating and a -3.7 net rating. I see a Trae and Zach pairing going the exact same way, if not worse. 

I like the idea of Trae, as a true point guard, breaking down the defense and getting easy shots for guys like LaVine, Murray, and Ellis. Trae is an excellent passer and has led the league in assist percentage three times, including last season. Trae can make passes that most other NBA players wouldn’t even attempt, which allows him to create shot opportunities out of nothing for his teammates. Below, you can see Trae giving Sacramento’s defense conniptions with his passing early last season. 

One of the less talked-about parts of Trae’s game is his ability to score inside the arc. The number that stands out the most is his 45.2% shooting from the mid-range. For reference, DeMar DeRozan, who is one of the best mid-range players in the NBA, shot 45.8% from the mid-range last season. Trae’s ability to stop and shoot in front of drop coverage adds another layer to the challenges of defending him and would be very important in Sacramento. 

Trae is clearly a top-tier offensive talent and would add a ton to Sacramento on that end, but how would he and LaVine coexist? According to Cleaning the Glass, Sabonis had a usage rate of 22.3% last season, which is high, but pales in comparison to Trae’s 34.5%. There are obviously instances of high usage players being successful together, but most of those players are at a different caliber than LaVine and Young. To make things work, LaVine’s role would need to change drastically. 

The other issue offensively is Young’s efficiency and propensity for turnovers. The biggest worry is that his attempts from deep were down last year, and his efficiency fell along with it, leading to an effective field goal percentage under 50%. Young also led the entire NBA in turnover percentage among players who played at least 50 games, with 41% of the Hawks' turnovers coming from Trae. None of this feels like the right path forward for a Kings team that handled the ball well last year and struggled with their three-point shooting. 

Trading Sabonis for Young feels like as much of a lateral move as you can make if you’re Sacramento. Sure, the team may be a bit more exciting to watch, and Young and LaVine may explode for 100 points every once in a while, but I’m not sure that is going to lead to a top-six seed. Young would be an easier piece to build around than Sabonis, but if nothing else changes, this isn’t a trade Sacramento should make.