Depends on whether you feel nosatalgic about the Jays. Trae, as I been saying for a while, might be better than both of them. Even if you don't agree, he'd still dominate the ball and, would not be the best fit for Tatum but less so for Brown (who I think would be fine with Trae).
The Ayton-Ball combo assures that Tatum and Brown are the primary ball handlers and scorers.
Trae Young is only better than both of them if you close your eyes for half the game. I also think Tatum is vastly better than Trae. Offensively Trae is slightly better than Tatum (mostly because of his ability to create assists for others, since Tatum is a more efficient scorer) but Tatum can and has been a player who can defend. I know he probably took a step back this season on the defensive side, but the entire team did. Tatum has shown the ability to be very disruptive on defense.
The reason the Hawks are still in the post season and the Celtics aren't is due to them having an extremely balanced roster after Trae. They've got like 7 or 8 double digit scoring threats.
If I could pick between Trae / Collins and Ball / Ayton, I would easily pick Ball / Ayton. I think Ball is the perfect PG for our roster with Tatum and Brown, and Ayton is a growing presence in the middle. A Ball / Ayton addition would make the Celtics a very good offensive team, and a top 3 defensive team as well.
Trae is significantly better offensively than either Jay. He's an incredible scorer AND playmaker, which is significantly more important than anything that can be accomplished on defense, which for the most part is negligible. Trae makes others better, which is something that both Jay was still working into their game.
He is a talented, fun passer, but I always discount that some when its someone who must always dominate the ball, and he really dominates the ball.
Go take a look at his actual stats and get back to me on the rest of it. I think he's getting too much credit. Atlanta has a deep team with quite a bit of talent and they have been very lucky in how the playoffs played out. I'm not a fan of his.
He is very skilled and perhaps some day he will become efficient enough to become a very poor man's Steph Curry, but he's not that yet. His shooting numbers are much closer to Marcus Smart's than Tatum or Brown.
Trae Young should not be compared to Steph Curry.
Trae is a one-man offense. He should be compared to other players who played in that style. Like James Harden in Houston. LeBron at various points in his career. The closest PGs (players at his position) are Steve Nash and CP3 although both do so in different ways.
The freakish long range 3s I just view as a way or necessity of being for such a
small physically frail PG. He needs to create that extra space for his driving game. He uses those long 3s to force the defenses further out so that he can create off the dribble (his best skill) in order to either (1) get to the rim and actually have a make-able shot (2) force the help to kick it to an open teammate for an easier score.
Trae is a high volume scorer & high volume playmaker. Nash was more of a medium volume scorer & high volume playmaker. CP3 was above average volume scorer & high volume playmaker.
If you go all the way back to the 60s, you could point to Oscar Robertson as a PG who was both a high volume scorer & high volume playmaker. A different method used due to his physical size. More like LeBron than these smaller guards.
My point is that Trae is very unusual. His combination of skills are rare. Do not pigeon hole him to a Steph Curry / 3 point accuracy. Those are not even his main skills. It his driving & playmaking that are his primary skills. His shooting is the skill he needs to open it up -- to enable / enhance those skills.
Steph is a different player again. Half PG half Reggie Miller (off ball SG). Steph is a freak in his own way. He has very good on-ball skills and elite off ball skills. No other PG in the league has shown themselves to be able to play off ball the way Steph does. And because of that he can enable others more room to express themselves (something Trae also cannot do) because they have more time on the ball while Steph is running off screens. Very different styles.
Both take long 3s and lots of 3s but still play very different styles and accomplish their offense impact in different ways.
Topic: Which two players make the Celtics better (Read 4178 times)