Why Trae Young and flawed stars like him are so hard to build

In sports, there is a collective mission for franchises, whether they are chasing a championship or starting over.

This mission is to acquire, as much as possible, a true superstar.

In basketball, where only five players per team occupy the court at one time, the superstar has an enormous effect in the context of winning a championship.

Announcement

However, in the process of player identification, teams end up kissing a lot of frogs. Some of those frogs turn out to be handsome, stars in their own right but never manage to overcome that barrier to transform into princes or kings of basketball.

With Trae Young and the Hawks now working on a trade destination for the four-time All-Star, it’s a stark reminder of the fragility of talent, fitness, contract status and roster construction in the NBA. Young helped the Hawks reach the Eastern Conference finals in 2021 and the future looked bright. Now it seems the time has come for a change.

With that in mind, we explore Young and a pair of talented players who may be struggling to become superstars, and what needs to change for them to change the narrative.

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Alright, so here’s a guy who can space out, score at a high rate and is truly an elite playmaker. Surely Young is a superstar through whom you can run everything and win a title, right?

Announcement

Well, it’s complicated.

Young can shoot and defenses are tuned into his abilities, but he’s never been efficient enough to be worth the plethora of long-range shots he takes (35.1% career 3-point shooter), nor is he a good enough off-ball shooter to serve as a decoy.

Young is, in many ways, a heliocentric player, who at 6-foot-1 can’t consistently see past the defense and is so compromised defensively that the Hawks have to make constant adjustments to hide it.

But okay, surely that’s not enough to stop him from entering the superstar category?

Yes and no.

When Young is on the court and finds the perfect balance between shooting, playmaking and timely decisions, he’s close.

However, given his size, he has to overcome many obstacles. Unlike Jalen Brunson, a stockier point guard of similar height, Young is slight and bounces off defenders more easily. While this gets him to the free throw line, it doesn’t allow him to take shots and stop in the midrange when the need arises.

Announcement

Essentially, Young is the ultimate finesse point guard who lacks physicality and must constantly think his way out of trouble, rather than having the ability to overcome it.

That said, it doesn’t help that Young isn’t the prototypical off-ball shooter. He’s the best with the ball in his hands, until the foul. In order for others to shine, which is needed, Young must relinquish some responsibilities and embrace areas of the game where he would otherwise have been weak.

The good news is that Young should be able to correct his tendencies without going through years of adjustments.

If he gets traded from Atlanta and lands with a team that figures out how to exploit his off-ball potential — which is there — there’s a good chance we could see a player close to becoming a true superstar.

Announcement

Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic

In the NBA world, DeMar DeRozan has never been seen as a franchise superstar. He takes too many inefficient shots, exploits the shot clock, is a good but not great playmaker, and generally lacks the off-ball skills to weave his style of play into the larger fabric of an NBA offense.

From this perspective, why should Banchero be viewed differently than DeRozan?

Banchero is a career 44.6% shooter. He would be terrific if that were his 3-point percentage, but that’s his overall efficiency.

His 49.2% two-point conversion rate is much lower than what a fleet-footed 6-10, 250-pound big man with athleticism and touch should be able to produce.

Announcement

27% of his shot attempts come from inside the arc between 10 feet and the 3-point line. He doesn’t bend defenses with his off-ball skills, and opposing defenses are frankly fine with Banchero leaning on mid-range shots, as they know his efficiency – or lack thereof – won’t punish them.

So what can Banchero do to turn the corner?

In addition to adding a much more reliable 3-point shot (31.4% career shooter), Banchero needs to significantly increase his volume at the rim. Only 22.9% of his attempts are from three feet up, which seems like a bit of a problem when you’re so good at twisting and turning your body during dribble movements.

If Banchero leans into a more calculated diet, his entire career changes.

Announcement

Having a reliable 3-point shot would allow Banchero to move more easily without the ball and keep defenses moving by dragging a defender with him. This opens up driving lanes for teammates and drastically improves the offense by providing more layers for players to utilize.

(Finally, it wouldn’t hurt to become a better rebounder, either, all things considered. At his size, with his athleticism and raw strength, he shouldn’t be in his fourth season of not averaging double figures.)

Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

We don’t have to delve into Williamson, as Banchero’s case laid the foundation for many of the weaknesses we find in quality players who aren’t superstars.

Announcement

Williamson is an even worse 3-point shooter than Banchero and is also just a good, but not great, playmaker.

So let’s focus on that element.

If a player is a high-level scorer who consistently scores doubles and is the key name in the scouting report, it is critical to have the ability to leverage that score as a means to pass the ball.

Williamson’s problem with not being a spacer hurts him badly in the playmaking department. Defenders are very aware that he is not a threat from beyond 15 feet, so they are giving him that shot while understanding that they have to play it for the drive and not the shot.

Of Williamson’s career shot attempts, 94.1% have been within 10 feet of the basket. Teams are fully aware of this, meaning no one really pays attention to any play Williamson engages in unless that play is close to the edge. If he gives up the ball 20 feet away from the basket, expect a cut and an imminent give-and-go attempt.

Announcement

Like Banchero, Williamson doesn’t bend defenses, considering how much he is on the ball and how little he shoots, and that makes him predictable and fairly easy to plan for.

Imagine Williamson as the main initiator of a series of finals, where every possible adjustment was made.

Is he consistently able to get into the paint and convert at a 70% clip? Probably not.

Is he consistently able to make the right pass after breaking the first line of defense? Again, probably not.

Add in the fact that his defense is only occasionally good and his rebounding is historically poor, and what do you have?

Announcement

A star, sure, but what can lead you to the promised land? Highly doubtful. If anything, Williamson is intriguing as a finalist you put around a true superstar playmaker, and that’s about the only context in which he makes sense.

So what does all this mean?

While there is no one-size-fits-all answer to what makes a championship-winning superstar, we can make some educated guesses based on the players we’ve talked about.

A general lack of space between floors is highly problematic. It sounds simplistic, but it’s anything but. Star players who demand attention from every end of the court are absolutely crucial, unless they are so ridiculously overbearing in every other aspect of the game (see: Antetokounmpo, Giannis).

Announcement

Just being a good playmaker is a problem unless your primary skill, like scoring, is so great from both a volume and efficiency standpoint that it’s simply not necessary, and you have many other strengths within the game, like rebounding and being able to defend at a high level (see: Tatum, Jayson).

All of the above should also cause more teams to raise long-term questions about what kind of player Duke star Cameron Boozer will be.

The freshman forward projected to go in the top three in the 2026 NBA Draft puts up explosive box scores in every game, averaging 23 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists, but will his playmaking translate to the NBA becoming a primary superstar?

Announcement

And his defense? Is he good enough at the NBA level to negate what could be average 3-point efficiency, so-so passing instincts and good, but not great rebounding?

Boozer, at 6-9, 250, is good and will no doubt be a rock-solid NBA player, but the archetypal player he is is reminiscent of Banchero and, to some extent, Williamson.

Can he add layers to his game and become a go-to player and eventually win a title through him? Time will tell, but it will have to break the mold we’ve already seen.

All of this highlights how difficult it is to find a true franchise player, and when you have one in his prime, you probably shouldn’t let him go.