ATL definitely has better supporting cast than Dallas after trade deadline, which I was referring to.
perhaps true, but i mean the bulk of the season doncic had better players around him, and his ROY was basically sealed before the allstar break anyways
So? Rajon Rondo led the league in assists three years ago while playing for 33-49 Sacramento. You make it sound like it's impossible to have a good amount of assists on a bad team. Atlanta is a much better 3P shooting team than Dallas. Doncic is often double teamed out of P&R because defense can afford to leave at least one of his teammates completely open. Luka generates tons of good looks for his teammates who just don't convert them. Out of potential assists, Luka's teammates actually convert only 43% of them while Trae's teammates convert 53% of his potential assists. Atlanta is 15th in 3P% while Dallas is 27th. One would say it's because Luka doesn't generate enough good looks for his teammates. But watching all Luka's games, I know that just isn't true. His game is based on generating great looks from three out of P&R, similar to what his childhood idol LeBron is great at.
Don't forget Doncic started playing as a full-time point guard after the All-star break. During his first month, he played mostly off the ball as a 3 or 4. On nov.25th against Boston, he started as a PG for Dallas for first time, but after 1st quarter Rick relegated him to off the ball player again. During DSJ absence in December and January, he was playing the best basketball of his rookie season. During that time, his role was finally the one Trae Young has been given from the opening day. If Luka has been playing full-time PG from Day 1, giving him the option to get used to the position like Trae did, I'm sure their assists numbers would be closer. Then when he started playing PG, Dallas traded away 4/5 of starting lineup. Luka is by far the best player on his team after All-star break by wide margin, and he's been their best player before too. The difference between before and after All-star is he has worse teammates and defenses can focus on him much more than they do with Trae Young. And let's not forget that Trae is not even the best player on his own team (it's Collins), so he can do his own thing much more freely than Luka. Trae can afford to be a pass-first PG, while Luka has to be a score-first PG. Surround Luka with better teammates and see what happens.
I agree Trae has quickest first step. That's one of the reasons he can rack up a couple more assists per game than Luka right now. But I can't accept this makes Trae a better playmaker, because going by that logic Trae is a better playmaker than Steve Nash. Westbrook led the league in assists one year, is he a better passer than Lebron?
i haven't gone through all the scenarios and what-if's with these two players. i like them both, but quite frankly they are enemies of my team what i have seen from watching about 20 games of each this season though is that trae young has elite quickness and playmaking ability that doncic does not have. and when i say playmaking ability, i mean running an offense the entire time he's on the court. maybe doncic can do this as well, but i haven't seen it, because when i've watched he hasn't been bring the ball up and setting the table for everyone from start to finish. i've seen trae young do this and do it at an elite level. as mentioned before also, doncic also has the size and clutch game that trae young lacks. and i look forward to watching them both develop. (but not as much as i look forward to even HOU's bench scrubs develop )
Luka compensates lack of speed with IQ, craftiness and shiftiness, which is similar to Harden's game. If he dedicates the summer to conditioning, he will "boost" his skills to next level. Watching the games, it's clear he wants to set up his teammates, but he also looks for his shot fairly often. That's because he's the best scorer on his team. What he lacks is a good p&r partner, which DeAndre Jordan was not. Trae has plenty of roll men at disposal, and both Dedmon and Collins are shooting 37% from 3P which is huge for Trae's game and wishful thinking for Luka.
again i have to say your posts on this topic reveal significant bias. we could play the same game for trae all day as well, ie. for the bulk of the season he had a worse supporting cast than DAL, he's had a worse coach then carlisle all season, the NBA point guard position is widely considered the most difficult for a rookie to learn and adjust to, the ATL arena is less roaring and inspiring to play in front of than the DAL arena, his old wiley vet (vince) has less championship experience than luka's (dirk diggler), etc etc we could go into tomorrow actually
