Joe Young is Making the Most Out of His Oppurtunity

Joe Young is Making the Most Out of His Oppurtunity

Joe Young is finally getting some consistent playing time, and he's making the most of it.

Joe Young is finally getting some consistent playing time, and he's making the most of it.

Joe Young was a prolific scorer during his four-year collegiate career. Whether he was wearing a Houston Cougar's jersey or an Oregon Duck's jersey, Young was consistently getting buckets. He averaged 17.5 points per game over his college career, including 20.7 his senior year, when he won Pac-12 player of the year. Despite his scoring ability, many scouts doubted his ability to play at the next level, as many teams don’t place a high value on undersized guards who do very little besides score. The Pacers ended up drafting Young with the 43rd pick in the 2015 draft and signed him to a four-year $4 million deal after an impressive showing in the summer league.

Fast forward to now, and Young is in his third professional season (all with the Pacers). Entering this season, expectations for Young remained low. After playing a grand total of 74 games in his first two seasons, Young wasn’t expected to be a part of the rotation. Even with the large roster makeover, the Pacers endured this offseason, Young was on the outside looking in of Nate McMillan's rotation. In the first 34 games of the season, Young appeared in only 18 of those games and scored a total of 47 points (2.6 per game) while shooting 42 percent from the field. It looked as if it was going to be a repeat of his first two seasons until Victor Oladipo’s injury opened the door for him.

Due to a knee injury, Oladipo was forced to miss four games late in December. Some of Oladipo’s minutes were allocated to Young, giving him the opportunity he hadn't gotten to this point in his professional career. And so far he hasn’t looked back. In the last nine games, Young has played in eight, averaging close to 15 minutes in those contests. He has averaged eight points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field, including 46.7 percent from deep.

  First 34 Games Last 9 Games Difference
GP 18 8  
MPG 6.3 14.8 +8.5
PPG 2.6 8 +5.4
FG % 42.2 52.3 +10.1
3PT % 15.4 46.7 +31.3
Plus-Minus -1.1 1.9 +3

If Young can keep producing in his limited minutes and continue to play solid defense, he could find himself cemented in the team's regular rotation. This would be a welcome sign from a player who once slept inside the team’s practice facility earlier this season. And who knows, this could be a pivotal moment that could help ignite Young's NBA career. 

Joe Young was a prolific scorer during his four-year collegiate career. Whether he was wearing a Houston Cougar's jersey or an Oregon Duck's jersey, Young was consistently getting buckets. He averaged 17.5 points per game over his college career, including 20.7 his senior year, when he won Pac-12 player of the year. Despite his scoring ability, many scouts doubted his ability to play at the next level, as many teams don’t place a high value on undersized guards who do very little besides score. The Pacers ended up drafting Young with the 43rd pick in the 2015 draft and signed him to a four-year $4 million deal after an impressive showing in the summer league.

Fast forward to now, and Young is in his third professional season (all with the Pacers). Entering this season, expectations for Young remained low. After playing a grand total of 74 games in his first two seasons, Young wasn’t expected to be a part of the rotation. Even with the large roster makeover, the Pacers endured this offseason, Young was on the outside looking in of Nate McMillan's rotation. In the first 34 games of the season, Young appeared in only 18 of those games and scored a total of 47 points (2.6 per game) while shooting 42 percent from the field. It looked as if it was going to be a repeat of his first two seasons until Victor Oladipo’s injury opened the door for him.

Due to a knee injury, Oladipo was forced to miss four games late in December. Some of Oladipo’s minutes were allocated to Young, giving him the opportunity he hadn't gotten to this point in his professional career. And so far he hasn’t looked back. In the last nine games, Young has played in eight, averaging close to 15 minutes in those contests. He has averaged eight points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field, including 46.7 percent from deep.

  First 34 Games Last 9 Games Difference
GP 18 8  
MPG 6.3 14.8 +8.5
PPG 2.6 8 +5.4
FG % 42.2 52.3 +10.1
3PT % 15.4 46.7 +31.3
Plus-Minus -1.1 1.9 +3

If Young can keep producing in his limited minutes and continue to play solid defense, he could find himself cemented in the team's regular rotation. This would be a welcome sign from a player who once slept inside the team’s practice facility earlier this season. And who knows, this could be a pivotal moment that could help ignite Young's NBA career. 

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