After spending his first seven-and-a-half seasons in Atlanta, Trae Young is heading elsewhere.
The Hawks traded the star guard to the Washington Wizards in exchange for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, the teams announced on Friday.
Young, 27, was drafted fifth overall by the Dallas Mavericks in 2018 but was dealt to Atlanta in a draft-night swap for Luka Doncic. Through 493 career games with the Hawks, the four-time all-star averaged 25.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 9.8 assists.
He’s consistently been one of the league’s top playmakers since joining the pros, proving that last season with a career-high 11.6 helpers per game (leading the NBA), while also scoring 24.2 points in 76 appearances.
“I know you all have questions for me that right now I’m not at liberty to talk about or answer,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said, unprompted, at the start of his post-game news conference Wednesday night following Atlanta’s win over visiting New Orleans.
NBA reporter Marc Stein was first to disclose that the sides were closing in on a deal, and ESPN first reported that the agreement was in place on Wednesday.
The Wizards held McCollum and Kispert out of their loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday night, and Young was on the bench in street clothes for Atlanta. He left the bench area in the fourth quarter, then returned and left again for the final time with about 30 seconds left — slapping hands with a few fans as he headed toward the locker room.
Yet, Young’s numbers and health are both down this year. His averages of 19.3 points and 8.9 assists through just 10 appearances — due to a lingering quad injury — are both the lowest they’ve been since his rookie season in 2018-19.
All of which has been underscored by the fact that Atlanta chose not to offer Young a contract extension last off-season. The lead guard is owed $45.9 million this season and has a player option worth $48.9 million in 2026-27 that he could decline in order to explore free agency.
Meanwhile, the Hawks have fared better in their games without the lead guard (16-13) than with him in the lineup (2-8) this season. It comes after the Young-led team had stagnated in recent years. After he helped Atlanta to a surprise Eastern Conference Finals run in 2021, the Hawks have yet to return. That effort was followed by back-to-back first-round exits and then two seasons of missing the playoffs outright.
That presumably explained why both parties decided to work together on an amicable split, with Charania previously reporting the two sides had been collaborating on a resolution.
Earlier on Wednesday, Charania reported that Washington was Young’s preferred destination. As one of the league’s most frequent pick-and-roll ball handlers, he finds a new screening partner with oft-rolling sophomore big man Alex Sarr.
Hawks power forward Mouhamed Gueye said he didn’t know during Wednesday’s game that the trade news had gone public. He had nothing but high praise afterward for his time with Young.
“That’s T.Y. That’s Trae Young,” Gueye said. “When I first got here, he was one of the first guys that texted me, welcoming me to the city, gave me a lot of advice. Obviously, playing with Trae, as a big, is like a dream come true. I love him as a guy, I love him as a teammate. … An Atlanta legend.”
As for McCollum, the veteran guard has been a consistent presence in Washington this season, as he’d yet to miss a game for the 10-26 squad before sitting out Wednesday night. He’s averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists on 44.9/39.2/80.0 per cent shooting splits through his 34 appearances.
But at 34 years old, he doesn’t necessarily fit the youthful Wizards’ timeline and is owed $30.6 million this season before unrestricted free agency in the summer.
Meanwhile, Kispert, a fifth-year forward, is averaging 9.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 19 games this season while shooting 39.5 per cent from beyond the arc.
The 17-21 Hawks will certainly welcome McCollum’s availability, consistent production and veteran presence, along with Kispert’s perimeter production, as they look to climb out of the middling zone of the Eastern Conference. Beyond that, however, the newfound flexibility thanks to McCollum’s expiring deal appears to be what Atlanta was more interested in. According to Charania, the deal provides the Hawks with the room to pursue a large salary over the next several months, possibly even going after Dallas Mavericks star centre Anthony Davis.
Atlanta has been linked to the 10-time all-star for much of the season due to a clear need for a true rim threat. The Hawks rank 25th for rebounding this season, 27th on the offensive glass and have been a bottom-half-of-the-league defence.
Either way, a new era in Atlanta begins while Young gets a much-needed fresh start.
–with files from The Associated Press