Young Point Guards Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Ja Morant are showing out in the playoffs and fans are starting to see a glimpse of what the future of the NBA looks like
All three young point guards are 22 years old or younger and are displaying their super-stardom this postseason
Before Luka Doncic got hurt toward the end of game 3 of the Clippers vs. Mavericks series, he was on another level, in the same category as LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant. In the first three games of the series, Doncic put up 31 10 and 10 in the first game, 39 7 and 7 in the second game, and 44 9 and 9 in the third game. Game 4 was another story as Doncic clearly injured himself toward the end of game 3 and was not the same Luka Doncic in game 4 as the Mavericks lost by 25.
Aside from his brilliant statistics to start his career(including being the fourth fastest to reach 5,000 points and one of the quickest to reach 1,000 assists as well), Doncic has really taken it up a notch in the postseason this year(when healthy), and of course last year as well where he almost singlehandedly beat a very talented and deep Clippers team.
His postseason performance last year propelled Doncic to be the projected favorite to win the MVP award this season, while his brilliant sophomore season in the NBA where he averaged 28.8 PPG, 9.4 RPG, and 8.8 APG was also taken into consideration when the projections came out. As Doncic was still in the conversation in the latter half of the year, the Mavericks played very inconsistently down the stretch as Kristaps Porzingis could not get into a rhythm and Josh Richardson was not scoring as much as he was capable of either.
The supporting cast’s struggles resulted in more double and triple teams and with that more pressure on Doncic, who still marvelously averaged 27.7 PPG, 8.6 APG, and 8.0 RPG. Even though these numbers were down compared to his sophomore season because of his supporting cast’s struggles and the double and triple teams, Doncic still managed to have a better eFG(effective field goal) percentage and 3PT percentage than the previous year.
It seems like Doncic will have to try and beat the Clippers by himself again as Kristaps Porzingis hasn’t played to his potential and the Mavs can’t rely on only Tim Hardaway Jr. to take pressure off of their young superstar. It looks like the Clippers will win this series the way things are looking with the Mavericks lack of depth and Luka Doncic’s lingering neck injury, but regardless of the result, Doncic has shown everyone that he is going to be the best player in the NBA and the face of the league once LeBron James retires.
Trae Young was the first basketball player in history to average 26 PPG and 9 APG at the All-Star break and not make the team. Take that in for a second. Young’s offensive game is one of the best in the NBA, and although the Hawks were struggling at the break, Young still should have been rewarded for his great year. Either way, we are witnessing Trae Young’s first postseason appearance against the hungry Knicks, who didn’t make the playoffs for the last 8 seasons.
This is probably the most exciting series to start the year even if Atlanta is leading 3-1, just because of the trash talk between Young and Knicks fans, John Collins and Julius Randle, and coaches and players going at it as well. Young silenced the MSG crowd with a last-second shot in game one, where he finished with 32 points and 10 assists. The Hawks came out on fire in game 2, but Derrick Rose and the Knicks took over the game with defense and elite ball movement on offense to even the series at 1-1. Young played great as always finishing with 30 points and 7 assists with his famous “See you in the A” chants to the heckling Knicks fans. Games 3 and 4 were all Trae Young as his 21 point 14 assist performance helped secure a game 3 win, while his 27 point 9 assist performance secured a game 4 win to take a commanding lead in the series.
Trae Young may never become a polished defensive player, but he is so good offensively which will make him one of the best and most exciting players to watch in the NBA for at least the next decade.
Ja Morant put up 47 points in a 141-129 loss to the Utah Jazz in game 2 of the Grizzlies vs. Jazz series. Morant led the Grizz to an upset win in Utah in game 1, finishing with 26 points and 4 assists, and almost lead a comeback win in game 2 vs. the Jazz although they fell just short. Games 3 and 4 did not go as planned for the Grizzlies as they lost by 10 in game 3 and by 7 in game 4, both games being in Memphis. Morant had 28 points and 7 assists in game 3 and had 23 points and 12 assists in game 4.
I have always said if I were a general manager in the NBA I would have drafted Ja Morant #1 over Zion Williamson in the draft. Many people have called me crazy for this belief as Zion looks very dominant to start his career, but after Ja’s 47 point performance in Utah, and his consistent play overall this postseason, many people are starting to see the super-stardom that I have always seen in Morant. It does not matter that the Grizzlies will likely lose this series because they have one of the best core’s to build off for future success lead by future NBA superstar Ja Morant.
Couldn't disagree more
What kind of bozo wrote this tabloid