Trae Young leads the NBA with 12.1 assists per game.
Trae Young keeps leveling up. Every season, the Atlanta Hawks’ floor general has managed to top his assists average from the year before, and this year’s no different. In fact, he’s currently making the biggest leap we’ve seen from his seven seasons, piling up a league-best 12.1 assists per game.
Nobody else in the league is averaging 10 assists or more so far this season. Cade Cunningham, Nikola Jokić, and LeBron James are the only others averaging more than nine assists on the year.
Three of the four best assist performances this season belong to Trae Young, including a 22-assist outing against the Cavaliers in November. He’s tied with Anthony Davis for the third most double-doubles this season with 22, with no other guards in the top 10.
His reliable playmaking has contributed to an 18-15 start for the Hawks this year, good enough for 5th in the Eastern Conference. This comes as Atlanta aims to return to the playoffs following last season’s lottery finish.
Young’s career averages of 25.3 points and 9.7 assists per game reflect his excellence as both a scorer and a passer. While his scoring mark is also impressive, by comparison, it’s the assists that shine brightest amongst the best in league history.
Magic Johnson (11.2) and John Stockton (10.5) are the only players in history with a career assists average higher than Trae Young, with Oscar Robertson (9.5) and Chris Paul (9.3) rounding out the top five. While Young still has ground to cover in terms of longevity, he’s among elite company.
His 4,243 career dimes rank fourth among active players since his rookie year in 2018, trailing only Jokić (4,375), Russell Westbrook (4,366) and James Harden (4,345) in assists. It’s worth noting that while Young’s story is far from finished, he’s keeping pace with some of the greatest to ever play.
