Trae Young Trade Overview: Did the Wizards Make a Smart Decision?
Image courtesy of Bleacher Report.
By Sam Bergstrom
On January 7, the Atlanta Hawks traded point guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. This trade was largely expected, as rumors circulated on January 5 that Young and the Hawks mutually desired to part ways. The Wizards immediately arose as Young’s preferred destination, and Washington would acquire the 4x All-Star two days later. This trade ended Young’s eight-year tenure in Atlanta, which included an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2021.
Since being drafted in 2018, Trae Young has been regarded as one of the most flamboyant players in the NBA. He plays a loosey-goosey style of basketball, with nifty ball-handling skills, unlimited three-point range, a quick-trigger floater, and a knack for sneakily drawing fouls. He is also one of the best distributors of this decade. He is averaging just under 10 assists per game for his career, and led the National Basketball Association in that category last year. He also thrives off of boos from opposing crowds—especially ones that come raining down in Madison Square Garden whenever he plays the New York Knicks—and is always ready to play a villain-type role.
With Young’s unique playstyle comes glaring weaknesses. His small stature makes Young a major defensive liability. His sporadic shot selection has often yielded inefficiency, as he’s shot just 43.2% from the field for his career. Additionally, he only seems to thrive when playing on the ball and being at the center of an offense. With triple-double threat Jalen Johnson rising as Atlanta’s new franchise facilitator, the Hawks realized there was no more room for Young to thrive. In fact, Atlanta went just 2-8 when Young was on the floor this season, showing how he may have hurt the team more than helped them.
The Wizards made a low-risk, high-reward move by trading for Young. Over the past three years, Washington has been in rebuild mode, with their foundation coming from youthful lottery picks such as Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, and Tre Johnson. This strategy has not netted any success as of late, as they finished with just 15 wins in 2024 and 18 in 2025. Between 2020 and 2023, Young led Atlanta to three straight playoff appearances. Perhaps the Wizards have faith that he can turn the franchise around and propel them to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
The Wizards do not currently have a true floor general, and Young’s playmaking ability can bring some much-needed energy to their current lackluster offense. In particular, Sarr can finally have a reliable pick-and-roll/pop partner. George and Johnson can also find more open three-point looks, with Young drawing lots of attention from the defense. Even if they do not improve as a team, I think Wizards fans will still enjoy the energizing brand of basketball that makes Trae Young the fun—if also sometimes frustrating—player he is.
Young is currently dealing with a sprained knee and bruised quadriceps; it is reported he will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break. With these injuries has come speculation whether Young will play much at all this season after his recovery. Why would the Wizards want to rest an exciting talent they just traded for? Well, Washington is currently sitting at 14th in the Eastern Conference Standings and has a long shot to make the play-in, let alone the playoffs. According to Bleacher Report, if the Wizards remain a bottom-four team at the end of the season, they would be guaranteed a top-8 pick in this upcoming draft. If the Wizards continue to tank and land a talented prospect, they could build an even stronger core centered around Young next season.
Taking all of this into account, this move makes perfect sense, so long as Young picks up his $49 million 2026-27 player option, which is highly likely. In fact, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps, “the strong expectation around the league is Young will sign an extension with the Wizards.” It will be riveting to monitor how much Young will play this year and how likely Washington is to make him part of their long-term future.
