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Trae Young officially declares for 2018 NBA Draft

By Brad Berreman

NORMAN, OK - FEBRUARY 17: Trae Young #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks at the court after passing the half court line against the Texas Longhorns at Lloyd Noble Center on February 17, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Longhorns defeated the Sooners 77-66. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - FEBRUARY 17: Trae Young #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners looks at the court after passing the half court line against the Texas Longhorns at Lloyd Noble Center on February 17, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Longhorns defeated the Sooners 77-66. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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A mostly terrific freshman season made it the only move — Oklahoma guard Trae Young has declared for the 2018 NBA Draft.

A late-season swoon for the Oklahoma Sooners was capped by a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Rhode Island last Thursday, and the future of star guard Trae Young immediately became a prominent topic. On Tuesday morning, via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Young declared for the 2018 NBA Draft.

Young led Division I in scoring (27.4 points per game) and assists (8.7 per game), winning Big 12 Freshman of the Year, setting the conference’s freshman scoring record (811 points) and being named First-Team All American along the way.

Oklahoma started the season 14-2, and vaulted as high as No. 4 in the country. But scouting reports got out on Young, he was focused on by opposing teams, and the Sooners wound up firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble with an 18-13 record.

Young had 28 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the 83-78 overtime loss to Rhode Island. That will be a fresh memory, but a deeper look shows he made less than 40 percent of his shots in nine of the previous 12 games. There’s being a volume shooter, perhaps by necessity as Young’s teammates failed to step up, then there’s a lack of efficiency that hurts your team.

The comparisons between Young and Stephen Curry are obvious, with some of the same questions heading to the NBA. But Curry is also bigger than Young, who’s listed a 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds. If Young thinks Big 12 teams were guarding him like no else would be guarded, as he lamented at one point, wait until he gets the taste of the NBA.

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Young is slotted in as the fifth-best prospect in the latest Step Back Big Board. So his decision to leave for the NBA was too obvious, with nowhere to go but down by returning to Oklahoma.