© Dale Zanine | 2018 Dec 3
The Trae Young-Stephen Curry comparison already feels played out and talked to death just two years into the Hawks point guard’s career. That’s probably because the similarities are so obvious, especially when it comes to both players being undersized, baby-faced point guards with unlimited range.
But it’s another quality they have in common that makes the comparison even more enticing: Passing ability.
In fact, that’s the one facet of Young’s game that former Warriors General Manager and current Hawks front office executive Larry Riley believes was better than Curry’s coming out of college.
“There is a comparison that’s inevitable between he and Steph. The only thing he had over Steph was he’s probably a little bit better passer coming in as a rookie,” Riley told Papa and Lund on Monday. “The rest of it, Steph has the advantage. And Trae is still growing into the role that we’d like to see him take, he’s done very well with it, and we just hope he continues to progress.”
Coming out of college, Young’s per-game assist numbers were better than Curry’s (8.7 to 5.6 respectively) but it should be noted that Curry played mostly shooting guard at Davidson, and he played at, well, Davidson, not exactly a team replete with elite scorers.
The early returns would indicate that Young’s passing ability at the NBA level is slightly better than Curry’s as well. His 8.6 assists per game average during his first two seasons is nearly two higher than Curry’s career average, but it should again be noted that Curry has the ball in his hands far less often than Young.
Either way, both have the ability and vision to make incredible passes at the highest level. For proof, check out these highlight packages:
Listen to the full interview below.