Atlanta Hawks trade four-time All-Star Trae Young To Washington Wizards For C.J. McCollum And Corey Kispertsources told ESPN.
The trade ended Young's tenure as the face of the Hawks franchise after seven-plus seasons and sent the 27-year-old to his preferred destination in the nation's capital to become the Wizards' leading defender. Washington top officials Michael Winger and Will Dawkins have been looking to anchor their rising young talent, and the franchise believes the deal is the next step in the organization's rebuilding process. It also reunites Young with Wizards executive Travis Schlenk, who brought him to Atlanta in draft deal in 2018.
Now the Hawks are ready to turn the page into a new era with the arrival of Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Mr. Okongwu And Zakkari Risakerbringing a much smoother style of play with their wings and depth. McCollum emerges as a valuable veteran plug-and-play leader for the Hawks with an expiring contract worth $30.6 million.
The young move also gives Atlanta additional financial flexibility to generate larger payrolls over the next few months. Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis as a top trade target ahead of an incredibly valuable first-round pick in June that is a bargain between New Orleans' and Milwaukee's picks.
At 18-21 after Wednesday home win Against the Pelicans, Atlanta is ninth in the Eastern Conference, but the Hawks were 2-8 with Young in the lineup. Young's agents – Aaron Mintz, Drew Morrison and Austin Brown – worked with Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh on last week's deal. Representatives for the Hawks and Young have been in dialogue about his future over the past few months, ever since the franchise decided not to offer Young a contract extension.
“I know you all have questions for me that I can't talk about or answer right now,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said after Wednesday's win because the league has not yet approved the trade.
Young has $95 million remaining on his contract through the 2026-27 season with a player option this offseason. By acquiring Young, the Wizards will move $30 million below the luxury tax, open up roster space for further moves and assets, and clear $46 million in cap space for the summer.
The Wizards are not expected to hold immediate contract extension talks with Young, and both sides will evaluate his health once he arrives in Washington, sources said.
Young, who suffered a sprained right MCL earlier in the season and dealt with residual pain from the injury, was sidelined with a right quadriceps contusion that kept him out of the final six games. On Wednesday, he was on the bench in street clothes, left the bench area in the fourth quarter, then returned and left again for the final time with 30 seconds left – slapping the hands of several fans as he headed to the locker room.
Hawks power forward Mohamed Gueye said that during the game he was unaware that the trading news had become public. All he did was praise Yang.
“This is TY. This is Trae Young,” Gueye said. “When I first came here, he was one of the first guys to write to me, welcome me to town, give me a lot of advice. Obviously, playing with Trey as a big player is like a dream come true. I love him as a guy, I love him as a teammate…An Atlanta legend.”
Young is the Hawks' all-time leader in three-pointers made (1,295) and assists (4,837). He has led Atlanta to the playoffs three times, including a trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021. Okongwu is now the only player remaining on the Hawks' roster from that team.
In 10 games this season, Young averaged 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, 1.5 rebounds, shooting 41.5% from the field and 30.5% from 3-point range in 28 minutes per game. McCollum, meanwhile, is averaging 18.8 points, 3.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, shooting 45.4% from the field and 39.3% from 3-point range.
Kispert is averaging 9.2 points and 39.5% in 3-of-19 games this season and adds depth to the Hawks' wing.
Drafted to the NBA for the 2021-22 season, Young has career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists. Last season, he led the league in assists with 11.6 per game. Young averaged 25 points and 10 assists in two seasons in his career (2022-23 and 2023-24), tied with Russell Westbrook this is the second most such seasons in NBA history (Oscar Robertson leads with five). Young also scored or assisted 48.1 points per game in his career, the second-highest total in NBA history. Luka Doncic (48.9).
Young became the second player since the 1976-77 merger to average 25 points per game for one team in his first 400 career games and be traded before reaching 500th. The first was the man Young was traded for on draft night in 2018, Doncic.
This season, the Wizards have allowed the sixth-most points per game (50.0) and fourth-most assists per game (11.9) from guards, as well as the 27th-most offensive efficiency. The Hawks' offense with Young on the court has been a top-15 offense in every season since Young's second campaign in 2019-20, including the No. 1 offense in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
McCollum leads Washington in scoring this season with 18.6 points per game as a sophomore big man. Alex Sarr right behind him at 17.2. The Wizards are 10-26 and 14th in the East, but had won five of seven games before Wednesday's game. loss of road in Philadelphia, both McCollum and Kispert held out. They have not made the playoffs since losing in the first round of the 2020–21 season.
The Wizards' 2026 first-round pick is among the top eight players protected from a previous trade with the Knicks. If their own first-round pick is retained, they will send players to the second round of the 2026 New York and 2027 New York.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
