Trae Young earns fourth Rookie of the Month award

Trae Young’s rookie season was phenomenal and the Atlanta Hawks point guard will add yet another honor to his resume. At the conclusion of the campaign, Young was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for March and April (the NBA chose to combine the two months), and it was the fourth time the former Oklahoma standout was presented with the hardware during the 2018-19 campaign.

The lone blemish for Young in this particular category was a December win for New York Knicks forward Kevin Knox and, candidly, that is an NBA decision that does not look fantastic in retrospect. Young was the winner of the October-November, January and February awards, with his improving play making the league’s decision easy in most instances.

Young’s fourth award is the most ever by a member of the Hawks organization, with Al Horford winning three times during the 2007-08 season. Elsewhere, Ivan Johnson (April 2012), Shelden Williams (April 2005) and Stacey Augmon (April 1992) were past recipients from the franchise.

Over the six-week period covered by the award, Young was fantastic, averaging 23.4 points and 9.2 assists per game. Beyond that, the 20-year-old was the offensive engine for the Hawks on a nightly basis and Atlanta posted a respectable record along the way.

Much has been made of Young’s wildly impressive push — Young averaged 19.1 points and 8.1 assists per game for the season — to chase down Luka Doncic in the Rookie of the Year race, and that buzz won’t subside even with the regular season now in the books. While the final outcome of that particular journey won’t be known until the league’s award show in June, however, the No. 5 overall pick continues to be recognized for what was a stellar debut season.

Stay tuned.