Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young is having a very solid sophomore season, and he appears well on his way to becoming a perennial All-Star in the NBA. However, despite his own accomplishments, he continues to get constantly compared to Dallas Mavericks second-year sensation Luka Doncic, who has played at an MVP level so far this season and in turn propelled Dallas into the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture. 

Young and Doncic are tied together in the history books as Atlanta traded the third overall pick of the ’18 draft (which would be used to draft Doncic) to Dallas in exchange for the fifth pick (Young) and a future first-rounder (that pick would become Cam Reddish). The trade was well over a year ago, but the comparisons continue, and Young is tired of them.  

“Yeah. For me, it bothers me — I just love playing basketball, I know he does,” Young said, via ESPN. “So it bothers me because it’s annoying just getting asked about it all the time. But I know it comes with it. I didn’t ask for it to happen, but it happened. … It’s two totally different situations, two totally different players. He’s playing well, I’m playing well. Just let it be.” 

Young thinks that both teams involved in the trade operated in their own best interest, and their current statuses shouldn’t be used as grounds to evaluate the deal. 

“I think both teams did what’s best for them,” Young said of the deal. “I think what we have going on: the rebuilding process, getting a lot of young guys and trying to build that way, build this city up, build the culture we have. It’s great, it’s growing. We have a lot of fans here that are supporting us… Obviously in Dallas, they’re more in a win-now situation: going and getting all those free agents, getting Kristaps [Porzingis], Tim [Hardaway Jr.], Seth [Curry], They got a lot of guys that are veterans in this league. Two totally different situations.” 

Just because he’s bothered by them though, Young doesn’t expect the comparisons to stop anytime soon. 

“We’re going to be compared throughout our whole careers,” Young said. “That’s fine, that’s what it’s going to be — it happened on draft night, and I don’t think it’ll stop until we’re both retired.”