Raptors’ Thad Young opens up about human side of NBA trade deadline

New Toronto Raptors acquisition Thaddeus Young has been traded five times in his NBA career, with his most recent move coming by way of San Antonio in exchange for Goran Dragic.

But despite his experience with moving for his job, Young is still essentially a travelling businessman without a permanent spot in Toronto yet.

“I’m just still living out of a suitcase,” Young said following yesterday’s 120-90 loss in New Orleans.

With the Spurs on a road trip, while Young was traded, he took a flight to Toronto straight from Atlanta without a chance to return home.

Young’s wife, Shekinah, and two children made the trek to New Orleans to support him.

“Today was the first day I’ve seen my kids in like two weeks,” he said. “That that was a bright spot.”

“We are professional movers at this point,” Shekinah joked on Twitter.

When it comes to the actual basketball aspects of the trade, Young doesn’t expect it’ll take too long for him to fit into the Raptors’ rotation.

“It’s just a matter of just me just kind my way, and then just kind of like getting acclimated with the new offence,” Young said.

In his debut, Young put up four points, four rebounds and an assist in 12 minutes of action.

“I think the biggest hardest part is I’m learning multiple positions, as opposed to one or two positions,” Young added. “I’m learning anywhere from the one down to the five because all the pieces are interchangeable on the court. You’re trying to learn five positions in one day.”

Young called the Raptors “a good mix between veteran leadership and young guys” while meeting the media on the weekend.

One of those “young guys” is a former protégé of his. When OG Anunoby was 16 years old, he played for an AAU youth team that Young was in charge of.

“We’ve built a bond and a brotherhood throughout the course of his career and throughout the course of my career,” Young said.

But despite their history together, Young hasn’t cracked the code of the oft mild-mannered Anunoby.

“I’ve probably only seen OG smile like three times,” Young joked.

For now, the focus shifts to the Raptors’ next matchup against Minnesota on Wednesday night, before a trip back to Texas over the NBA All-Star break this weekend.

“My wife and my brother did a phenomenal job of packing everything up,” Young said. “Now, I can just kind of go and try to get my life together.”

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