Trae Young on Wizards’ struggles: ‘It’s more than just effort’

Trae Young gave the Wizards another chance with a tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation. After another loss, he offered a reminder about how much they still have to learn.

“It’s more than just effort,” Young told reporters following a 144-140 double-overtime loss to the Pistons. “There are a lot of regular people that can just give a lot of effort, but there is skill that goes into this game and a lot of mental things going into this game.”

Young finished with 37 points and 14 assists, but the Wizards dropped their sixth straight to fall to 4-9. He missed all seven of his shots across the two overtime periods.

“The teams that we have been playing have been playoff teams in recent years. Not just five- or six-seed teams, but the one- and two-seed teams,” Young said, via video shared by Miles Jordan. “I mean, they kind of showed us what it’s like to win.”

Young still intends to trust the Wizards’ younger players when games get tight, including rookie AJ Dybantsa.

“I can trust AJ with the ball, and no matter what type of performance he’s had in the first three quarters, I’m giving him the ball and letting him make the right play,” he said, via Buckets District.

The Wizards get another difficult assignment Sunday against the Rockets. Young would prefer these lessons eventually start producing wins, but he sees value in getting them early.

“I’m glad we’re going through this now rather than game 60. I can’t even imagine what you guys would say then,” he said. “So it’s a good thing that we’re going through this now, because every good team goes through this phase.”

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