Atlanta Hawks advisor and former Golden State Warriors general manager Larry Riley understands similarities many fans see between Trae Young and Steph Curry, but he wouldn’t go so far to equate the two.
“There is that comparison that’s inevitable,” Riley said on the Papa & Lund podcast. “Everybody’s going to make that comparison between he and Steph.”
Riley was general manager when the Warriors drafted Curry in 2009, and was with Golden State in different capacities from 2006 to 2018.
He joined the Hawks as an advisor in August 2018, months after the draft-night trade that gave them the rights to Trae Young.
While Riley is now firmly aboard the Atlanta train, he was careful not liken Young’s talents to those of Curry too much — though in one area, the second-year pro is better at his age than Curry was, the executive thinks.
“The only thing he had over Steph was he’s probably a little bit better passer coming in as a rookie,” Riley said. “The rest of it, Steph has the advantage.”
Curry has turned into arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history and won two Most Valuable Player awards. Young has the makings of a star shooter, making the sixth-most 3s in the league while shooting 36% from behind the arc and averaging almost 30 points per game in his second year.
Riley hopes Young can continue down this trajectory and become prolific.
“Trae is still growing into the role that we’d like to see him take,” Riley said. “He’s done very well with it and we just hope he continues to progress.”
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