Getty The 2018 NBA Draft Class
Earlier this month, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young shared that he felt snubbed on draft night in 2018. After the Dallas Mavericks made the decision to trade the former Oklahoma Sooners standout for Luka Doncic, he revealed his frustration on ‘The SWAG Shop’ with Grammy Award-Winning artist Killer Mike.
Trae Young: “I saw a lot of video on draft night, the whole trade thing here and everything that went down.
Killer Mike: “How did it feel? You kind of alluded to it, but how did it feel, and how does it feel now?”
TY: “I just felt disrespected, I mean, at the beginning of it all, I just felt disrespected just from everything I did in college, that I felt like I had something to prove,” said Young.
“And it wasn’t necessarily anything personal with Luka, but to show people why Atlanta brought me here.”
KM: “What’s it been like adjusting to the program?”
TY: “I think after that first month is when I really started to get a flow of things. People say it was two halves of the season, and I disagree with that,” Young said.
Young then sat down with ESPN’s Royce Young and was asked if it bothered him that people can’t seem to separate him from Doncic.
“Yeah. For me, it bothers me — I just love playing basketball, I know he does. So it bothers me because it’s annoying just getting asked about it all the time. But I know it comes with it. I didn’t ask for it to happen, but it happened. … It’s two totally different situations, two totally different players. He’s playing well, I’m playing well. Just let it be, said Young.
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NBA Analyst Thinks Both Players Will Be Linked for the Rest of Their Careers
In a recent interview with Fanatics View, ESPN’s Amin Elhassan weighed in on Young’s comments that he is tired of being compared to Doncic.
“It’s going to follow him for the rest of his life, he got traded for the guy, and he is going to have a great career. However, that was something on draft day, and instantly I said they are going to regret doing that. Trae Young is a great young prospect, Deandre Ayton is a great young prospect, Marvin Bagley is a great young prospect, Jaren Jackson, who is one of my favorite players in that rookie class, that dude [Luka Doncic] over there is special,” shared Elhassan.
“They’re great, but he is special, and when you are one of the guys that they took over him, that’s one thing, but when you are the dude that’s traded for him that’s going to follow you forever. People might forget that [Deandre] Ayton and Jaren Jackson were in his draft class, no one is going to forget that Trae Young was traded for Luka Doncic. It’s unfair for him really, but at the same time, that is a burden that he will have to play with his whole career,” said Elhassan.
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