Thaddeus Young is often described as underrated and if you watch what he does on defense for the Indiana Pacers, it is clear how true that sentiment is.
It’s trade season in the NBA, and with Thaddeus Young‘s contract expiring and the end of this season — and little word if the Indiana Pacers are interested in keeping him — his name often comes up in fans and media alike’s trade proposals.
With Young’s solid but average stats for a starter and the allure of a draft pick or young prospect, it is understandable why some see him as expendable.
It’s very easy to see the value of a player exclusively through an offensive lense. Even then, Young’s 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds don’t paint a clear picture because more often than not, the Pacers aren’t running a play for him. Young is the release valve or clean-up guy when it comes to Indiana’s offense.
But when you watch Thaddeus Young’s defense, it illuminates his value to the team and makes clear that this 30-year old power forward’s role wouldn’t easily be replaced.
Early in the game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Indianapolis Star’s J. Michael pointed out what many of us noticed for three seasons now: Young is the glue holding the defense together.
Young displayed his flexibility as a defender by seemingly covering ever part of the floor during one possession early in the game in Memphis.
Young starts off by hedging off a screen to stop Mike Conley before shifting back over to Marc Gasol to stop his drive to the basket. Gasol passes the ball out to Jevon Carter, who tries to attack the paint after Gasol’s screen. Young switches onto Carter to stop another drive while the recently screened Tyreke Evans is now in a mismatch with Gasol.
Carter smartly sees the said mismatch and makes the pass, but Young sprints down for the double-team on Gasol and then is forced to race back out to the 3-point line once the Grizzlies center kicks the ball back out to Carter.
Carter then passes to Conley who sends it to Jaren Jackson Jr. in the corner. Jackson was open as Memphis’ ball-movement kept Indiana running and chasing to cover the next man after each pass. Turner ended up running out to cover Carter at the arc while Collison sprinted over to Conley before he passed it to a seemingly open Jackson for a corner three.
But guess who is running out to contest that 3-pointer? Thaddeus Young. And Jackson ended up missing the shot.
Thaddeus Young is the glue of the Indiana Pacers defense
The Grizzlies kept moving the ball and forced the Pacers to play several matchups that weren’t favorable to Indiana. Memphis played the possession well, but thanks to Thad’s flexibility, many of those matchups couldn’t be exploited.
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Even though Carter got off a decent shot, the Pacers, and Young, in particular, had drained most of the shot clock by that point. Carter had limited options if he didn’t want to shoot and had Young running out to contest.
Young’s role on the defense is a flexible one. He covered guards and bigs throughout the possession as the Grizzlies tried screening off a number of Pacers. Young’s ability to matchup against any of them and slow their progress gave the rest of Indiana’s players time to recover.
With effort and a 7’1 wingspan, it isn’t overly surprising he leads Indiana in deflections with 3 a game, good enough for 13th in the NBA, and is 18th in steals. Only Myles Turner contests more shots that Young on the Pacers.
Thad is a very busy man on defense if you haven’t noticed. He eliminates mistakes and buys time for his teammates to get back in position.
Indiana’s defense doesn’t function the same way without Young on the court, as evidenced by the fact they’ve outscored opponents by 183 points when he plays. Indiana is +3.8 with him on the floor, the highest among Indiana’s starter.
So, before you fire up any of your trade ideas on Twitter and decided it’s time for the Indiana Pacers to move Thaddeus Young elsewhere, you might want to consider how they’ll make up for his defense.