Does Trae Young Makes Sense as an MVP Dark Horse?

If there’s one thing we know about Trae Young, it’s that he’s built to lead the Atlanta Hawks. Young was amazing during the playoffs last season. He averaged nearly 25 points and 10 assists per game, knocked off the No.1 seed Philadelphia 76ers and pushed the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks to six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Coming into this season, Young has hype surrounding him to solidify his place amongst the elite stars in the league. One way he could do that is to win MVP. 

I know, it feels like I skipped a few steps in Young’s career trajectory. But could he do it?

Right now, WynnBET has Young’s odds at +1700 to win MVP, which is ninth on the odds list. Young is directly behind last year’s MVP, Nikola Jokic, who was also a surprise winner. At +1700, Young is clearly a dark horse, but I think it might make sense to take a flyer on him. 

Obviously, everything the Hawks do is centered around Young. His shooting and passing ability puts defenses in less than favorable positions every time the Hawks run a pick-and-roll. Young is going to finish top five in assists like he does every year. What he needs to work on is getting his scoring up. Young’s scoring average dropped 4.3 points last season, from 29.6 to 25.3. If Young can compete for a scoring title and assist title, he’ll have to be in the conversation. 

The main thing that will hold him back will be the Hawks’ record. MVP’s aren’t handed to players on bad teams, and the Hawks didn’t even have home-court advantage in the first round. On the bright side for Young, Nate McMillan is coming back as the head coach. Once he took over for Lloyd Pierce, the Hawks went 27-11 -- which extrapolates to a 58-win season. 

Atlanta is set to bring all of its weapons back, which is great for the continuity of the team.

The Hawks have a high ceiling next year with the momentum of the playoffs and a full offseason with McMillan as the coach. If they can start the way they finished last season, it would make sense to jump on the Trae Young bandwagon. 

Download the WynnBET app and make your pick today.