The first fan returns for NBA All-Star voting came out Thursday, and Trae Young ranks No. 3 among Eastern Conference guards, with 862,878 votes.
He’s behind Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan (1,487,598) in first place and Brooklyn’s James Harden (892,065) in second place, ahead of Chicago’s Zach LaVine (776,043) in fourth place and Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball (422,247) in fifth place. Young is the only Hawk included in the top 10 of Eastern Conference frontcourt players or guards.
Young was an All-Star starter in his second season when he averaged 29.6 points and 9.3 assists per game, and was snubbed last season when he had 25.3 points and 9.4 assists per game for a much-improved Hawks team that ended up going on a run to the Eastern Conference finals.
This year, Young is third in the league in assists (9.5) and second in scoring (28.4), shooting a career-best 38.1% from 3-point range. The Hawks (17-20) sit at No. 12 in the East as of Thursday afternoon, hoping the roster will stabilize after a COVID-19 outbreak so they can get hot in the second half of the season similar to last season.
The next fan returns will come in Jan. 13. The NBA All-Star game will take place at 8 p.m. Feb. 20 in Cleveland and will be broadcast on TNT.
To determine All-Star starters, fans account for 50% of the vote and NBA players and media will account for 25% of the vote each. The three frontcourt players and two guards with the most votes will be starters, so Young is one slot away from that as of now. NBA head coaches will select the reserves for the game.
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