The NBA released its first batch of fan voting Thursday for this year’s All-Star festivities. The Hawks’ Trae Young ranks fifth among guards in the Eastern Conference.
Young has averaged career assists this season, leading the NBA in assists per game and total number of assists.
With Young filling the role of the Hawks’ primary facilitator, some of his shooting averages have taken a hit. But he’s found the bottom of the net with an efficient 40.8% 3-point field-goal percentage on 8.4 attempts per game since Dec. 8.
He accumulated 353,452 fan votes behind the Hornets’ LaMelo Ball, the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, the Bucks’ Damian Lillard and the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson.
The Hawks have asked a lot more of Young, and he has continued to work on his defensive efforts. This season Young has averaged 1.3 steals per game.
Young has helped the Hawks win 10 of their past 15 games, the fifth best record in the NBA during that stretch, behind the Thunder, the Knicks, the Cavaliers and the Grizzlies. All four of those teams rank among the top five in their respective conferences.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokić and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, in the first fan returns.
Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, who leads the odds for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, did not crack the top 10 in votes among frontcourt players.
Fans account for 50% of the vote to determine the starters for the All-Star game. Current NBA players and a media panel account for 25% each.
On Friday, the NBA will run its next “3-for-1 Day,” in which each fan vote counts three times. The next fan voting update will be shared Jan. 9.
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