WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 08: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks handles the ball against Bub Carrington #8 of the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on February 08, 2025 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
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The Trae Young era in Atlanta is officially over. On Wednesday, the Hawks agreed to trade Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, according to multiple reports. Neither team included draft compensation in the deal.
Although the NBA’s second-apron era has crushed the value of stars like Young who come with major questions on one end of the floor, this was a zero-risk move for the rebuilding Wizards. All they gave up was the 34-year-old McCollum, whose contract expires after this year and did not factor into their long-term plans, and Kispert, who’s already turning 27 in March. In exchange, they just got a four-time All-Star point guard who just turned 27 this past September.
This deal didn’t hamper the Wizards’ long-term flexibility, either. They’re still projected to have more than $45 million in salary-cap space this summer, according to Spotrac’s Keith Smith. They were previously poised to have an NBA-high $80-plus million in spending power, but the 2026 free-agent class has already been whittled down. It might have been challenging for the Wizards to hit the salary floor—which they’d be required to do by the first day of the 2026-27 season—while spending their money wisely.
Depending on what comes next for the Wizards, this trade could eventually backfire on them. But given the price they paid to acquire Young, this was a no-brainer for now.
Wizards Getting Bargain-Basement Look At A Star
Young is in the final guaranteed year of his five-year, $215.2 million contract and has a $49.0 million player option for the 2026-27 season that he was “increasingly expected” to pick up prior to the trade, according to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein. Although a half-dozen teams (including the Wizards) are projected to have significant salary-cap space this summer, it’s unclear whether any of them would be inclined to break the bank for Young.
The second-apron era has forced teams to become increasingly selective about which players are deserving of max contracts moving forward. Young may no longer fit that mold, even though he was a no-brainer max player a few years ago. He’s such a defensive liability that he drags his entire team’s defensive rating down, and his 6’2″, 164-pound frame might prevent him from ever making significant strides on that end of the floor.
With that said, Young is a four-time All-Star with career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists per game. He leads the league by far in assists per game since he made his NBA debut in 2018. And while Young might drag his team’s defensive rating down, his combination of playmaking and scoring virtually guarantees that his team will have an above-average offensive rating.
Young’s production has dipped a bit this season, and he’s never been a particularly efficient shooter. His heliocentric, ball-dominant style of play has reportedly worn on teammates at times, too. However, Young came into the season telling ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk that he was willing and eager to work more off the ball; the Hawks just needed “to have the guys that are out there that want the ball first to make a play, and two, that can draw certain attention when they do get the ball.”
When Young was sidelined with an MCL sprain this season, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson emerged as that type of a player. When Young returned and the Hawks immediately proceeded to lose six straight games, that might have been the final nail in the coffin for his time in Atlanta. However, the Wizards find themselves in a far different spot than the Hawks did.
Can Young Anchor The Wizards’ Rebuild?
Unlike the Hawks, who’ve been hovering around .500 for the past half-decade, the Wizards are firmly in the early stages of a rebuild. They went a combined 33-131 over the past two seasons combined, and they got off to a 3-20 start this season before they began to find their footing over the past month.
The Wizards do already have a few intriguing young pieces on their roster. Alex Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick from the 2024 draft, is averaging 17.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and a league-leading 2.4 blocks in only 28.4 minutes per game. Tre Johnson, the No. 6 overall pick from this past June’s draft, is a walking bucket. And Kyshawn George, the No. 24 overall pick from the 2024 draft, has emerged as a do-it-all Swiss army knife.
What the Wizards lacked is a clear offensive engine. They’ve effectively been starting McCollum as their de facto point guard, although George leads the team with 5.1 assists per game. Young should help organize the Wizards’ offense and bring more structure to that end of the floor.
The addition of Young could especially pay dividends for Sarr, who isn’t a major shot-creator on his own. Nearly 70 percent of his two-point attempts and virtually all of his three-point attempts have been assisted thus far in his career. Having a point guard like Young who can reliably feed him the ball should help him continue to improve.
The big question moving forward comes down to expectations. If Young comes to Washington hell-bent on rebuilding his value, that could go one of two ways. He could either use this as an opportunity to prove that he’s able to operate more off the ball (good!) or revert to his heliocentric ways to stuff the stat sheet (not good!).
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Wizards “are not expected to have immediate extension talks with Young.” They could tack on two extra years to his deal if he picked up his 2026-27 player option or offer him a three-year extension if he agrees to turn the player option down, although they’ll be limited to 5% annual raises due to extend-and-trade rules. The Wizards might prefer to let the season play out and see how the draft lottery unfolds before committing to a long-term future with Young.
That’s the other wild card to consider with this trade. The Wizards owe their 2026 first-round pick to the New York Knicks if it falls outside the top eight. After Wednesday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Wizards are 10-26 and have the NBA’s fourth-worst record. As long as they finish in the bottom six, they’ll have at least a 95% chance of keeping their pick, so they might encourage Young to take his time recovering from the right quad injury that has sidelined him in recent games.
That may be a tricky balancing act for the Wizards to pull off unless they assure Young that they’re interested in a long-term partnership. However, it appears as though both sides are going into this new union with that mindset.
“Trae Young wanted to be a Washington Wizard,” Charania said Wednesday on NBA Countdown. “He believes he can be a young anchor of this Washington Wizards’ rebuild. This has clearly been a team that’s been drafting high. They’re trying to figure out how to take the next step. Wizards officials believe that Trae Young is that next step in their vision long-term. They want to build with Trae Young.”
For now, Young should raise both the Wizards’ floor and ceiling. They’ll just need to tread cautiously before making a long-term commitment to him, lest they find themselves in the same position that the Hawks did a few years down the road.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
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