Trae Young has took the NCAA by storm and has shown the ability to shoot from all over the floor and also the ability to break down defenses and finish at the rim. Lebron James raved about Trae Young and how he should go pro as soon as possible, so the question is would the Cavaliers drafting Trae Young lead to Lebron James re-signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer? If you ask me yes it will. This current Cavaliers roster has enough talent to make the NBA Finals and possibly even win it all but that will take Lebron James and Kevin Love playing at an absolutely surreal level and the supporting cast contributing on both ends.
Trae Young is everything George Hill and JR Smith aren’t, sure JR Smith can be a streaky shooter and reliable defender. George Hill has a ton of playoff experience stemming back from his duels with Miami in a Pacers uniform 4-5 years ago and is also a good defender who can serve as a reliable 3 point shooter but George Hill and JR Smith are not scaring anyone in a playoff series, Trae Young can. Trae Young’s efficiency in college has not been the best leading to his draft stock dropping but that is only because he is the only real threat on his team. Lebron James thrived with Kyrie Irving serving as a floor spacer and shot creator who can take over games offensively, sure Trae Young is only 19 years old but why can’t he be just as good as Kyrie Irving?
I do not see why Trae Young can not average 18-22 ppg in his very first season. Rookie Donovan Mitchell has been able to anchor the Jazz this season and the Jazz have not lost a step after losing Gordon Hayward in free-agency. Trae Young at the NBA level will only be better, he thrives in the open floor and having Lebron James attracting loads of attention will only free him up to pick teams apart with his ball handling and unparalleled perimeter skills. He can serve as a spot up shooter,come off screens and knock down threes, or break down his defender and pull up for jumpers from all over the floor.
I’d like to think he will definitely be a shoot first guard at the NBA level and that is exactly what Lebron James needs to play with for the remainder of his career. Lebron is still the best player in the game but he’s approaching 35 and can’t carry a whole team on his shoulders on both ends the way he used to, Trae Young would alleviate Lebron James and allow him to focus more on the defensive side of the ball and as more of a play-maker where he thrives more instead of having to shoulder the scoring load. Lebron James was ready to hand the throne to Kyrie Irving but Kyrie Irving chose to embark on a new path with the Boston Celtics, that says a lot about where Lebron is at this point in his career.
Lebron James would have no problem deferring to Trae Young and letting him take control of the offense whenever needed which is why I think the Cavaliers should do all they can to draft him. At the moment the Cavaliers stand at #7, they would be best suited to try and move up in the draft to assure themselves of nabbing Trae Young. Even though his draft stock has dropped, any NBA General Manager would have to understand Trae Young will flourish at the NBA level being that a faster pace is played and the game isn’t as structured and players have more freedom to expand their games and play more defined roles. Not to mention the Cavaliers can always bring him off the bench and let him learn under veteran George Hill who can show him the ropes on the defensive end which is one of Trae’s glaring weaknesses.
To conclude to think Lebron James would re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers to partner up with a 19 year old would be ludicrous in the regular NBA fans’s mind being that Lebron James has shown a history of not wanting to play with unproven talent. For those of you who recall, before coming to the Cleveland Cavaliers after opting out of the final year of his Miami Heat contract Kevin Love was brought aboard to assure Lebron comes back to Cleveland Cavaliers. It was never leaked out that he did not want to play with Andrew Wiggins but the Cavaliers knew they would have to sell Lebron on a win now situation if they wanted to get him away from Miami. Trae Young is different though, this kid has proven himself to be a dynamic scorer in his freshman season and has the ideal game to dominate in the NBA. Lebron James gets to stay in the East also and would get to mentor Trae Young and turn him into a superstar showing him everything he has learned. I already see Trae Young and Lebron James next season picking teams apart on fast-breaks, it will be raining 3’s and alley-oop dunks next year in the Land.
D-NBA 