Trae Young’s ability to perform in the playoffs has been questioned from the moment he entered his name in the 2018 NBA Draft. Young put up huge numbers as a freshman coming out of Oklahoma while drawing some optimistic comparisons to Stephen Curry in terms of his playing style, but skeptics saw a player who was too small and too weak to hold up under the pressure of postseason basketball.
For all of Young’s talent as an on-ball creator and pull-up shooter, the thought was that he would be targeted relentlessly on the defensive end over a seven-game series when the opposition had more time to game-plan for his specific strengths and weaknesses. Small guards who lack strength have a history of struggling in the playoffs. Even as Young proved he could be massively productive in the NBA over his first three seasons, there would always be doubts about how his game would translate to the postseason until he actually got there.