It's not hard to see which NBA players are the largest targets of scrutiny and criticism in terms of their foul-drawing techniques. If your team has played against James Harden, you've probably whined about the fact that one or more of his drives resulted in a somewhat-manufactured foul. If you've watched your team's big man fall victim to Joel Embiid's auto-foul mechanisms, you have probably felt helpless. If Luka Doncic has flailed his arms en route to the free throw line a dozen times, it more than likely rubbed you the wrong way.
And perhaps most notorious on the Mt. Rushmore of NBA foul-drawers is Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, who has shiftily created contact much to the ire of coaches like Steve Nash and Tom Thibodeau, several opposing players, millions of fans, and even the mayor of New York City.
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The issue has become so prominent in recent years, in fact, that the league is doing something about it. NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the league intends to implement new rules that will limit "non-basketball moves used to draw fouls" for the 2021-22 season and beyond. Though he dove into the nitty-gritty of the new rules, his summation at the end is perfectly fine for the purposes of this article:
So when crafty players lean into defenders on their jump shots, the NBA’s new rules dictate that should be called an offensive foul. And when players lean backward or sideways to initiate contact, the marginal contact should be no-calls.
And though there's no mention of Young, or Harden, or any other specific players who were the driving forces behind these rules, popular Twitter account StatMuse took it upon themselves to credit the Hawks star. Young, in response, was honored.
With the Eastern Conference Finals getting under way on Wednesday night, Young might as well continue to exploit his clever and hard-to-stop strategy of drawing contact while he can still get away with it. Not too many people think the Hawks will take down the Bucks, apparently — DraftKings Sportsbook has the series line at -480 for the Bucks, +350 for the Hawks — but not too many people thought they'd be able to take down the No. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers in the previous round. Look where they are now.
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