Chicago Bulls: The case for Trae Young over Mikal Bridges

Passing

Ditto with the first sentence of the last point. There is no better pure passer in the entire draft than Trae Young.

Bridges: 1.9 assists per game

Young: 8.7 assists per game (Led all of NCAA D-1)

As a freshman, Young burst onto the scene as one of the top, if not the top passer in the country. Young’s spectacular passing ability is a testament to his impeccable decision-making and control of the game.

Even more impressive was who Young did it with. Oklahoma went 11-20 the season before Young arrived, and returned most of their players from the dismal 2016-17 season. Its not like the Sooners added much other than Young, as Brady Manek was the only other Top-100 recruit.

As for who Young was passing to, only Manek and Christian James averaged over ten points per game. Young was also far-and-away the top passer on the Sooners, as the next-highest assists per game total was 1.5, seven fewer than Young.

Bridges passing “abilities” are a different story. In Bridges defense, its not really his job to be the primary facilitator, but averaging just 1.9 assists per game on a team that included elite scorers such as National Player of the Year Jalen Brunson and NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Donte DiVincenzo, I find it impossible to average just two assists per game.

If Young could put up impressive assist numbers on an Oklahoma team that would be otherwise terrible without him, just imagine what he can do with players such as Lauri Markkanen and Zach Lavine. The possibilities are endless, and its clear that Trae Young hasn’t even scratched the surface of his peak passing ability.