Kobe Is Working out With a Rising NBA Star This Off-Season

When the Atlanta Hawks traded to get Trae Young during the 2018 NBA Draft, people thought they were insane. Young was projected to be a good player in the NBA, but they were passing up a once in a generation talent in Luka Doncic. While Doncic had an All-NBA caliber season, Young wasn’t a slouch either.

After the All-Star break, he lit up opposing defenses, averaging over 25 points and nine assists per game. Yong made the all-rookie team and looks to be one of the games’ bright young stars. 

He has been working out with Kobe Bryant, so today we will go over their workouts and what we can expect from Young going forward.

Developing Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba” mentality?

We have seen Kobe Bryant workout with Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving recently, so this isn’t anything new.

Bryant is known as a fierce competitor and takes practicing very serious. So seeing him workout with Young should have Hawkes fans very excited. Young already had the green light as the focal point of the Hawks offense last season and if he can develop anything out of Kobe’s arsenal it should make him one of the best point guards in the Eastern Conference.

Adding on muscle

Young has put on 12 to 16 pounds of muscle during summer workouts and we think it will be an excellent addition to his game. Last year he played at 180 pounds, so putting on the muscle will help him attack the lane more and get him ready for a potentially tough first-round matchup in the playoffs.

He will still be able to keep his quickness and it may even help him with his shooting if he is able to take a few more attempts per game without getting tired or winded late in the fourth quarter. 

How good will Young be the season?

Some think Young has the potential to make the All-Star team this year. The East isn’t stacked with guards like the Western Conference and outside of Kemba Walker, there wasn’t any guards in the East that played better than Young after the All-Star break last year. As a rookie, Young shot just 32% from behind the arc, but we think those numbers should increase in his second season.

Will the Hawks make the playoffs?

Atlanta has had two very solid drafts over the last couple of seasons. All of their first-round picks are either starting or receiving significant playing time off the bench, and with Young and Kevin Huerter in the backcourt, the Hawks have arguably the best one-two shooting tandem in the Eastern Conference.

Can their experiences as rookies help propel them to a playoff seed?

Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, and the defending champion Raptors should all still be better than the Hawks, but we can see them getting in with an eighth or seventh seed. Expect a steady improvement from Atlanta as they start climbing up the ranks in the list.