Trae Young should bypass the 2018 NBA Draft, return to Oklahoma

After an up-and-down season that resulted in an early tournament exit for Oklahoma, Trae Young should reconsider declaring for the NBA Draft.

There was a time when Trae Young was the most popular person on a college campus. He averaged double-digit points and assists, got compared to Stephen Curry on a regular basis and had Oklahoma fans thinking Big 12 champions. But once the calendar flipped to 2018, the script completely flipped. Young’s percentage from three-point range dropped to 30 percent while the Sooners closed out the season with a 3-9 record.

Oklahoma still got a free pass into the NCAA Tournament, where anything can happen. But they came up short again, going one-and-done against Rhode Island. Young showed flashes of why he should be a lottery pick, finishing the game with 28 points, seven assists and five rebounds. But he also fell back on hero-ball tendencies, heaving some poor shots in overtime that proved to be costly.

A lot of the blame falls on Young’s supporting cast — who shot a combined 20-for-51 — but NBA scouts in attendance didn’t like what they saw. When speaking to Bleacher Report on the condition of anonymity, opinions on Young ranged from “Love his passion and dedication, but he must learn to be more efficient” to “I would not take him in the lottery” and “He’s erratic with the ball, and he’s a teaser. Volume shooter. I have concerns on him.”

Not everyone has jumped off the bandwagon — one scout remarked: “This isn’t the final product, but he has a great foundation; he just has a lot to learn.” But the overall response was fairly mixed. There should be enough there for Trae Young to reconsider declaring for the NBA Draft after his first season in college.

It’s not like opinions began to sour on Young only after the NCAA Tournament. He was on the outside looking in for the Naismith Award after he was a lock for it in January. After Collin Sexton slowed him down in their head-to-head meeting, the book was suddenly out on how to play Oklahoma. The more losses they piled up, the more fans began to turn on Young.

A deep run in the Tournament would’ve rectified that, but it was over before it got started. Even the player everyone loves to compare Young to Curry, stayed at Davidson for an extra year after he exploded onto the scene in 2008. That comparison was completely premature, too. He’s more like his Sooners counterpart, Buddy Hield, but he couldn’t carry his team as far as Hield did.

Some people may point to Saquon Barkley on the football side, considering that he dropped out of the Heisman race and lost steam towards the second half of the season but is still generating first overall buzz. But NFL teams still had three years of tape to study on him. NBA teams only have one rollercoaster of a season on Young.

Next: Best college basketball player from every state

People will see 27.4 points and 8.7 assists per game and think Young had a successful season. While he generated enough buzz to be considered by NBA teams, he should instead regard this second half slide as a learning experience and try to improve upon his body of work by returning to college. Maybe then, he’ll be able to rekindle the lottery potential that teams once saw in him.