Trae Young dishes out eight assists vs. Cavaliers

Trae was leading the league in assists in this game, and he’s done a good job orchestrating the offense and leading the Wizards to a better record than expectations to start the season. He got to the line and hit most of his free throws and was efficient tonight. The inefficiency balanced out in this one and the Wizards were able to come out with a win. Don’t expect that many rebounds but its been a good year for the league assist leader.

The NBA’s assist leader failed to record a double-double for the first time this season on Saturday, but he was able to get back on track in this one. He has also scored at least 20 points in every game this season, and he only needed one free throw to do get there in this game after averaging 11.7 attempts through their first three games. He should get back to that free throw rate moving forward, with the Cavaliers up next on the schedule on Wednesday.

Young’s point total has increased in each of his first three games this season, and his efficiency improved on Saturday. In addition to the improved field-goal percentage, the Wizards’ point guard committed just two turnovers in 34 minutes. For most of Young’s career, fantasy managers have had to punt the turnover category. Over three games, he’s recorded 34 assists and eight turnovers, a very good ratio. The Wizards play three games in Week 2, starting with the Hornets on Monday.

Another inefficient night from Trae Young, but he got you the numbers you wanted from him. They were going against the Raptors, so there was a lot of inefficiency across the board. He will have better shooting nights, so don’t panic. That being said, he’s not the most efficient guard in the NBA.

Trae didn’t hit a ton of shots tonight but got to the line at a high level. If healthy, he should be an easy be to be one of the leaders in assists this year. Don’t panic about the inefficiency. If he hit some more 3-pointers in this game, he would’ve been in line for a monster stat line. There will be many nights like this from Trae, but there will be other nights where he’s hitting shots and giving you good fantasy numbers.

Bilal Coulibaly will take the starting spot of AJ Dybantsa who rolled his ankle in the final pre-season game against the Pelicans. Bilal is worth a stream spot in redraft leagues if he’s available.

Young looked sharp in his first appearance this preseason, shooting over 50 percent from the field and committing just two turnovers in 17 minutes. Even with the turnover concerns, Young should be highly valuable to fantasy managers in any league format. For those punting turnovers, he’s likely to go in the second round of drafts at worst.

Young opted out of his $49 million player option last week, but he’ll get a bigger payday and long-term stability with Washington. His deal includes a player option in Year 4, but Young will be with the franchise through at least 2029. With so many talented options already around him and the top pick in the draft heading to the nation’s capital, Washington could move out of the cellar in which it’s been dwelling.

Reports surfaced on Wednesday that Young would opt out of the final year of his contract, which would’ve been worth $48.97 million. Assuming he makes that official next week, he will become an unrestricted free agent, but it doesn’t appear he will test the waters. Young seemed to be bought in on the Wizards after they traded for him in January, and he’ll affirm that when he signs a new deal. Washington is in a great spot after multiple miserable seasons; they have All-Star talents in Young and Anthony Davis, rising stars in Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Tre Johnson, and they also have the top pick in the draft next week. Young will have plenty of talent to facilitate the ball to.

Acquired from the Hawks in early January, Young appeared in five games for the Wizards before being shut down in mid-March. Had he opted into the final season of his contract, the point guard would have earned nearly $49 million. And this may not be a case in which Young is opting out to negotiate a deal with the Wizards that would give the team more cap space. According to the report, there’s a belief that “multiple teams” will show interest in signing Young. Washington is perceived to be the favorite to sign Young, but that isn’t guaranteed. The question is whether this will affect how the Wizards view the first overall pick in next week’s draft. BYU’s AJ Dybantsa is considered the favorite to go first, but Kansas’ Darryn Peterson has refused to work out for any team other than the Wizards.