It hasn't been the prettiest at times, but the Washington Wizards are off to a solid 2-1 start on the backs of their new All-Star duo, Trae Young and Anthony Davis. While Davis' highs have been the highlight of the season, Young's consistency when it comes to organizing the offense is something that can't be taken for granted.
The efficiency hasn't been there yet for Young. Through three games, he's shooting just 36.6 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from three. However, those numbers don't tell the whole story.
He's also leading the league in assists with 11.3 per game. He's reminding the rest of the NBA that, despite last season being an injury-riddled one, when he's healthy, he's still one of the best pure point guards and floor generals in the game.
Trae Young's playmaking is crucial to the Wizards taking a jump
It's simple: the Wizards don't have many true playmakers on their team. Guys like Davis and AJ Dybantsa (who hasn't played yet) provide a lot of scoring gravity, which takes pressure off teammates, but neither is a true playmaker.
Young has most of the playmaking responsibilities on his back. It's his job to generate open 3-point looks for the likes of Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George. Young needs to get Deandre Ayton and Alex Sarr involved in the offense through a lot of pick-and-roll, and he's done a great job at it.
He's also not working in the ideal spacing situation, which makes the assist numbers even more impressive. The Wizards are often running a lot of non-spacers on the court at the same time, clogging the lanes and giving bad defenders on other teams somewhere to hide.
Young being this effective as a playmaker in these circumstances is a welcome sight. The Wizards haven't had a playmaker of his caliber since the days of prime John Wall. He's the rare breed of passer who doesn't just rack up assists, but he makes the players around him better when he's on the court.
There is a single-digit number of players in the league who have the playmaking and scoring gravity to do that. Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Tyrese Haliburton, James Harden, and LaMelo Ball are the names that come to mind, and Young fits right in with them.
Last season, it looked at times like maybe Young's best days were behind him. But the Wizards are finding out just how important he is to the team. He makes the offense go every game, and that skill is indispensable on a team with playoff aspirations.
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