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NBA DRAFT

June 21, 2018

Trae Young

Brooklyn, New York

TRAE YOUNG: Well, there's a lot of emotions running through my head right now. I don't even know what to think. I mean, I'm truly blessed to be in this situation. I really can't wait to get out to Atlanta and start getting to work right away. Can't wait to meet my new teammates and the new fans and everything. So I'm just blessed to be in this situation.

Q. How much do you know about the city of Atlanta going in there?
TRAE YOUNG: I know a little bit about the city. I know it's a great city. I've never been to an NFL game, so I know they've got the Falcons out there and an MLB team out there with the Braves. I know it's a great city. I've heard a lot from Quavo and Migos and them. But overall, I want to get to know more about the city and stuff like that, but I know a little bit.

Q. Is meeting the Migos on that list?
TRAE YOUNG: I've met them before.

Q. I saw you just finished up one of your interviews when you announced the trade, you were still in the Mavs hat. What was the timeline of you finding out about that because reports had been on social media before that.
TRAE YOUNG: Well, I figured out that I was going to be going to the Hawks right after the fourth pick, right after Jaren (Jackson Jr.) got announced. So yeah, I knew that the trade had happened, but I didn't know necessarily I was going to be the fifth pick until after Jaren got announced.

Q. Do you feel comfortable going to a city like Atlanta? Is that something that you were thinking about when you were thinking about teams?
TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, I would be comfortable in any city. I lived in Portugal when my dad played overseas. I grew up -- Oklahoma City is not a very big city, but it's 15 minutes away from Norman, Oklahoma. It's not a small city. Whatever city I went to, I was going to be able to be comfortable in. I was just really excited to get to Atlanta.

Q. If you could just name one thing only that you want to let the whole city of Atlanta know upon arriving, what would that be?
TRAE YOUNG: The one thing?

Q. Yep.
TRAE YOUNG: I want to win. That's the one thing I want to do. I want to win.

Q. There's been a lot of comparing you and Steph Curry, as I'm sure you're super aware of. How does it feel to be going to work with a GM, Travis Schlenk, who was an assistant with the Warriors, and be almost plugged into the system that they're creating in Atlanta?
TRAE YOUNG: I mean, it feels really great. Travis is definitely trying to get it going in the right direction. He did a lot over in Golden State. He hired a really good staff with coach (Lloyd) Pierce. He's a players' coach. Just from the little time I spent out there during my workout, it was a great workout, and I really got to build a really good bond with him. So I can't wait to get to work with them, because like me, they're all about winning and they want to win. That's a really good start.

Q. You mentioned Quavo has told you a lot about Atlanta so far. What's he told you, and how did you get connected to the Migos in the first place?
TRAE YOUNG: They came to a concert in Oklahoma City and I was able to attend and I met him there. He actually texted me after I got picked, and he was excited. He's a really good friend of mine, so it's pretty cool.

Q. I was looking at what people wrote about Curry coming into the league; there's been a lot of criticism, similar criticism of you. How do you take that, and how can you improve on those criticisms?
TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, the criticisms are very similar. But they're also very similar with a lot of other players and guys like Kemba Walker, guys like Chris Paul. Steph isn't the only one. And I think people get caught up a little bit in the fact of finding things that people can't do instead of looking at the things that the player can do. When you look at that, I think you see the greater things in people.

Me myself, I just want to go out there and work hard every day in practice and try to win games.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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