Trae Young Starting To Turn Some NBA Heads

<p>Trae Young's draft stock is rising thanks to a hot start to the season.</p>

Wednesday, December 6th 2017, 3:58 pm

By: News 9

Trae Young Starting To Turn Some NBA Heads

Trae Young was a McDonald’s All-American and a consensus five-star recruit. He was a gold-medal winner on the United States Under-18 national team in 2016 and he averaged 42.6 points per game as a senior at Norman North last year.

So why has it taken so long for NBA eyes to take notice?

Maybe it’s a size issue. Young’s 6-foot-2, 170-pound frame isn’t prototypical for an NBA guard and he’ll need to demonstrate the ability to defend bigger, stronger, more athletic guards.

But he’s off to an explosive start in college, averaging an NCAA-best 28.7 points per game to go with 8.7 assists and 2.4 steals. And his NBA draft projections are starting to rise.

With 28.8 points and 8.8 assists, @TheTraeYoung is the first Division I player to average over 28 points + 8 assists in November in 20 years. pic.twitter.com/f31yb64BSa
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) December 3, 2017

Sports Illustrated has Young going No. 21, NBADraft.net has him as the 25th pick and in ESPN’s latest mock draft, he’s all the way up to No. 17.

If Young keeps up his torrid pace, NBA scouts and execs will have to take notice. Basketball insider Adam Zagoria recently cited one NBA executive saying Young is a top 15 pick right now.

The Sooner freshman will get a prime opportunity to showcase his skills in front of a plethora of scouts when OU takes on No. 25 USC in the Staples Center on Friday. Tipoff for the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic is scheduled for 9:30 p.m.

Sports Illustrated has Young going No. 21, NBADraft.net has him as the 25th pick and in ESPN’s latest mock draft, he’s all the way up to No. 17.

If Young keeps up his torrid pace, NBA scouts and execs will have to take notice. Basketball insider Adam Zagoria recently cited one NBA executive saying Young is a top 15 pick right now.

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Trae Young's draft stock is rising thanks to a hot start to the season.

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