ESPN Projects Trae Young To Be Named an Eastern Conference All-Star

The Hawks don't have a lot going on for them right now, but one thing they do is the play of point guard Trae Young. After a tough start to the year shooting the ball, Young has looked like one of the best playmakers in the NBA and is back to performing at a high level. Young is averaging 26.8 PPG and 10.5 APG, which is good enough for second in the NBA.

Is that good enough to be an All-Star in the Eastern Conference this season? When making up the way too early All-Star Teams for both conferences, ESPN's Kevin Pelton included Young as one of the wild card picks for the East.

Here is what Pelton had to say about Young and his candidacy for an All-Star spot:

"As expected, Young's poor shooting through the season's first three weeks was fluky. After hitting 36% from the field (28% from 3) over his first 11 games, Young is shooting 47% and 41% from 3 since, producing a better overall effective field-goal percentage (eFG%, which values 3s as 1.5 field goals) than last season. Young's 10.6 APG are a career high, while his 3.8 turnovers per game tie his lowest mark."

Pelton had Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton and 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey as the starters for the East at guard and Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell and Bucks guard Damian Lillard as the reserves. The other "wild card" pick for the East was Knicks guard Jalen Brunson.

I think Young is going to have to keep up his level of play right now because Haliburton and Maxey are having incredible seasons. Haliburton was the star of the in-season tournament and comfortably leads the NBA in assists while Maxey has taken on a bigger responsibility since James Harden was traded.

One thing that could help bolster Young's All-Star case is if the Hawks can start winning. They have lost four in a row and while Young is not the one to blame for those struggles, it is harder to be picked for an All-Star spot if your team does not have a good record.

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