Kenny Smith vs. Trae Young Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Trae Young and Kenny Smith, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Kenny Smith played 10 years in the NBA, 2 more than Trae Young, who played 8. Kenny Smith had the first of his seasons in 1987-88, while Trae Young had his rookie season in 2018-19. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Kenny Smith	Trae Young
Season	1987-88	2018-19
Team	Sacramento Kings	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	61	35.6	13.8	0.7	1.6	2.3	7.1	1.5	0.1	3.0	2.3	5.4	11.4	.477	0.2	0.6	.308	2.7	3.3	.819
difference:	+20	+4.7	+5.3	+0.1	+1.3	+1.4	+1.0	+0.6	+0.1	-0.8	-0.6	+1.1	+4.1	+.059	+1.7	+5.4	+.016	+1.5	+1.8	+.010
Trae Young	81	30.9	19.1	0.8	2.9	3.7	8.1	0.9	0.2	3.8	1.7	6.5	15.5	.418	1.9	6.0	.324	4.2	5.1	.829
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kenny Smith nor Trae Young played in the postseason in their season 1

Season 2
	Kenny Smith	Trae Young
Season	1988-89	2019-20
Team	Sacramento Kings	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	81	38.8	17.3	0.6	2.2	2.8	7.7	1.3	0.1	3.1	2.1	6.8	14.6	.462	0.6	1.6	.359	3.2	4.4	.737
difference:	+21	+3.5	+12.3	+0.1	+1.5	+1.5	+1.6	+0.2		-1.7	-0.4	+2.3	+6.2	+.025	+2.8	+7.9	+.002	+4.8	+4.9	+.123
Trae Young	60	35.3	29.6	0.5	3.7	4.3	9.3	1.1	0.1	4.8	1.7	9.1	20.8	.437	3.4	9.5	.361	8.0	9.3	.860
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Kenny Smith nor Trae Young played in the postseason in their season 2

Season 4
	Kenny Smith	Trae Young
Season	1990-91	2021-22
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	78	34.6	17.7	0.5	1.6	2.1	7.1	1.4	0.1	3.0	1.7	6.7	12.9	.520	0.6	1.7	.363	3.7	4.4	.844
difference:	+2	+0.3	+10.7	+0.2	+1.5	+1.6	+2.6	+0.5		-1.0		+2.7	+7.4	+.060	+2.5	+6.3	+.019	+2.9	+2.9	+.060
Trae Young	76	34.9	28.4	0.7	3.1	3.7	9.7	0.9	0.1	4.0	1.7	9.4	20.3	.460	3.1	8.0	.382	6.6	7.3	.904
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	3	37.7	15.3	1.3	1.3	2.7	8.0	1.3	0.3	2.0	1.7	6.0	12.7	.474	0.7	1.3	.500	2.7	3.0	.889
difference:	+2	+0.5	+0.1	+0.3	+2.7	+2.3	+2.0	+0.7	+0.3	-4.2	-0.9	+1.6	+1.1	+.155	+0.7	+6.3	+.316	+2.5	+3.6	+.101
Trae Young	5	37.2	15.4	1.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	0.6	0.0	6.2	2.6	4.4	13.8	.319	1.4	7.6	.184	5.2	6.6	.788

Season 6
	Kenny Smith	Trae Young
Season	1992-93	2023-24
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Rockets Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	82	29.5	13.0	0.3	1.6	2.0	5.4	1.0	0.1	2.0	1.3	4.7	9.1	.520	1.2	2.7	.438	2.4	2.7	.878
difference:	+28	+6.5	+12.7	+0.1	+0.7	+0.8	+5.4	+0.3	+0.1	-2.4	-0.7	+3.3	+9.6	+.090	+2.0	+6.0	+.065	+4.0	+4.8	+.023
Trae Young	54	36.0	25.7	0.4	2.3	2.8	10.8	1.3	0.2	4.4	2.0	8.0	18.7	.430	3.2	8.7	.373	6.4	7.5	.855
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	12	32.6	14.8	0.2	1.8	2.0	4.2	0.8	0.1	2.2	1.5	5.3	10.7	.492	1.9	3.8	.500	2.3	3.0	.778
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Kenny Smith	Trae Young
Season	1993-94	2024-25
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	Assists Leader
	-	Cup All-Tournament Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	78	28.3	11.6	0.3	1.5	1.8	4.2	0.8	0.1	1.6	1.6	4.4	9.1	.480	1.1	2.8	.405	1.7	2.0	.871
difference:	+2	+7.7	+12.6	+0.2	+1.1	+1.3	+7.4	+0.4	+0.1	-3.1	-0.3	+3.0	+9.0	+.069	+1.8	+5.6	+.065	+4.8	+5.4	+.004
Trae Young	76	36.0	24.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	11.6	1.2	0.2	4.7	1.9	7.4	18.1	.411	2.9	8.4	.340	6.5	7.4	.875
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	23	30.3	10.8	0.2	2.1	2.3	4.1	1.0	0.2	1.4	1.7	3.7	8.2	.455	1.5	3.3	.447	1.8	2.3	.808
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Kenny Smith	Trae Young
Season	1994-95	2025-26
Team	Houston Rockets	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

more >>

8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	81	25.1	10.4	0.3	1.6	1.9	4.0	0.9	0.1	1.5	1.3	3.5	7.3	.484	1.8	4.1	.429	1.6	1.8	.851
difference:	+76	+2.7	+7.4	+0.3	+0.4	+0.1	+3.8	+0.1	+0.1	-0.5	-0.5	+1.7	+6.7	+.113	+0.8	+1.1	+.237	+4.8	+6.0	+.030
Trae Young	5	27.8	17.8	0.0	2.0	2.0	7.8	0.8	0.2	2.0	1.8	5.2	14.0	.371	1.0	5.2	.192	6.4	7.8	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kenny Smith	22	29.6	10.8	0.3	1.9	2.2	4.5	0.6	0.1	1.4	2.1	3.5	8.1	.438	2.1	4.7	.442	1.6	1.8	.900
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-