Los Angeles Lakers: Comparing their young core to the rest of the NBA

Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young, John Collins, Taurean Prince

• Combined 2018-2019 per game stats: 51 PPG, 17 RPG, 12 APG, 1 BPG, 2 SPG
• OFFRTG: Young: 106, Collins: 109.7, Prince: 104.8
• DEFRTG: Young: 112.8, Collins: 111, Prince: 114.7
• BPM: Young: -2.3, Collins: 0.9, Prince: -2.2
• All-Star?: Young: 9, Collins: 8, Prince: 1
• Superstar?: Young: 5, Collins: 2, Prince: 1

It was hard to put the Hawks young core over the Nets fledgling crew, especially with the way Russell’s been playing this year, but as the season’s progressed it’s become clear that Trae Young is going to be an All-Star in this league and over the last 15 games he’s been better than Russell.

Young’s stats over the last 15 games:

• 24 PPG, 9 APG, 41 3P% on 7 attempts per game

Trae Young is the total package on offense. He can hit step-back 3’s, he can get into the lane and finish, and he’s already one of the best passers in the league. The only thing that could hold Trae back is his defense, but if he can become a decent defender like Curry, he could end up being the best point guard in the league in 5 years.

I haven’t even mentioned John Collins yet, who’s clearly better than Caris LeVert and could end up being superior to Russell, as soon as next year. Collins is only 21-years-old, but he’s already impacting the game on offense and defense like a veteran. There’s little doubt that he’ll become an All-Star in the future.