As expected, Washington still planning to tank after Trae Young trade
January 8, 2026
As expected, Washington still planning to tank after Trae Young trade
33 comments
They’ve been winning without him anyway
Smart move. They’d be dumb to play themselves out of a top 8 pick.
Another reason to dislike Washington DC, except this is for a reason that’s smart on their part.
I’m not sure that the Knicks would even want the pick with how tight the cap is.
Bondy is such a sourpuss
We still get their SRP which would still be close to 1st round grade, less financial bite especially for a team so close to the 2nd apron.

team tanking to screw out of our pick. never happened before…
I mean, this is to be expected.
This is pretty much what I was saying. No way they let they pick convey
Man, Trae should absolutely take this move as an insult. A bag of inflated basketballs would have gotten this deal done. Can’t stand dude on the court, but by all accounts he’s a decent dude outside of ball and just views his heel persona as an entertainment thing.
Well, it was a fun 1 day of thinking we might get a lottery pick…
Because the Wizards are a loser franchise who think tanking is the move, they’ll do better without him and convey the pick.
Pick or no pick, fuck Trae Young
They’re gonna have to bench a draft pick they absolutely nailed in Alex Sarr. He can get them close enough that a friendly lottery will deliver pick 9
As they should.
Surely the league has to step in. Can teams do this?
I think leaving it to the younger guys, some of whom have shown real promise, makes it more likely the tank could fail. Not getting my hopes up, but Bub, Tre, Bilal etc aren’t gonna throw close games.
What a pitiful organization this is why these teams are always in the lottery year after year !! Just tank every year and don’t develop their young players
Who cares about the pick
The Mavs like the Islanders got lucky because they were nowhere near the worst teams in the league so the lottery is not a total joke.
I don’t blame them for doing it. I imagine wizards FO and Trae’s representation already have a number in the same ball park for an extension so they’re just gonna bide their time
So, just blatantly tank.
So seems like Trae might not even play much this season, so just a salary dump? Trae is going into FA in the post season, but they still lost CJ and Kispert who are pretty good
I guess it furthers their tank initiative so they get a top 8 pick…. but damn I would absolutely love for their ping pong ball to land in #9 lol
Honestly I thought it was going to be wild if they played well enough with him to play themselves out of that pick but I guess sitting him does allow them a better chance to keep it
teams always do this against the Knicks, Mavs pulled this same shit a few years ago when the Knicks had a shot at getting it
Gahd damnit
Trae is definitely going to fuck that up for them. He just got traded by the only team he’s ever known. He is going to want to show why he’s worth more than what Atl got for him.
They can finish last in the league and still fall out the top 8 so it’s a gamble
I’m still salty about when Dallas blatantly fucked us out of that pick end of season
If they can rig it for flagg then they should give them the 9th pick if they tank
They need to change the CBA to stop this crap. I don’t even know why teams even agree to trades with these sort of protections
33 comments
They’ve been winning without him anyway
Smart move. They’d be dumb to play themselves out of a top 8 pick.
Another reason to dislike Washington DC, except this is for a reason that’s smart on their part.
I’m not sure that the Knicks would even want the pick with how tight the cap is.
Bondy is such a sourpuss
We still get their SRP which would still be close to 1st round grade, less financial bite especially for a team so close to the 2nd apron.

team tanking to screw out of our pick. never happened before…
I mean, this is to be expected.
This is pretty much what I was saying. No way they let they pick convey
Man, Trae should absolutely take this move as an insult. A bag of inflated basketballs would have gotten this deal done. Can’t stand dude on the court, but by all accounts he’s a decent dude outside of ball and just views his heel persona as an entertainment thing.
Well, it was a fun 1 day of thinking we might get a lottery pick…
Because the Wizards are a loser franchise who think tanking is the move, they’ll do better without him and convey the pick.
Pick or no pick, fuck Trae Young
They’re gonna have to bench a draft pick they absolutely nailed in Alex Sarr. He can get them close enough that a friendly lottery will deliver pick 9
As they should.
Surely the league has to step in. Can teams do this?
I think leaving it to the younger guys, some of whom have shown real promise, makes it more likely the tank could fail. Not getting my hopes up, but Bub, Tre, Bilal etc aren’t gonna throw close games.
What a pitiful organization this is why these teams are always in the lottery year after year !! Just tank every year and don’t develop their young players
Who cares about the pick
The Mavs like the Islanders got lucky because they were nowhere near the worst teams in the league so the lottery is not a total joke.
I don’t blame them for doing it. I imagine wizards FO and Trae’s representation already have a number in the same ball park for an extension so they’re just gonna bide their time
So, just blatantly tank.
So seems like Trae might not even play much this season, so just a salary dump? Trae is going into FA in the post season, but they still lost CJ and Kispert who are pretty good
I guess it furthers their tank initiative so they get a top 8 pick…. but damn I would absolutely love for their ping pong ball to land in #9 lol
Honestly I thought it was going to be wild if they played well enough with him to play themselves out of that pick but I guess sitting him does allow them a better chance to keep it
teams always do this against the Knicks, Mavs pulled this same shit a few years ago when the Knicks had a shot at getting it
Gahd damnit
Trae is definitely going to fuck that up for them. He just got traded by the only team he’s ever known. He is going to want to show why he’s worth more than what Atl got for him.
They can finish last in the league and still fall out the top 8 so it’s a gamble
I’m still salty about when Dallas blatantly fucked us out of that pick end of season
If they can rig it for flagg then they should give them the 9th pick if they tank
They need to change the CBA to stop this crap. I don’t even know why teams even agree to trades with these sort of protections
How is this allowed
Duh