While there are still 29 days until the NBA trade deadline of February 5th – and big trades tend to happen closer to that date – there is a lot of smoke and a distinct smell of gunpowder surrounding Trae Young’s deal with the Washington Wizards.
Washington is Young’s preferred destination; ESPN Shams Charania reports. This is new and important. Young is a fan favorite who has been the face of Atlanta’s franchise for more than seven years, and the team hopes he will do the right thing. this Hawks management and Young’s agent have been working together to find a new team for Young. Now the Wizards are the clear frontrunner. The fact that CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert — two players expected to be sent to Atlanta in the trade — sat out Wednesday’s game against the Wizards feels more like a coincidence.
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Trading Young to Washington for McCollum and Kispert is under the cap.
Of note are the draft picks that come with this deal. League sources told NBC Sports that while many people’s instinct was that Washington needed to add draft picks to the deal — they were getting a 27-year-old three-time All-Star who has career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists — the opposite was true. Washington could argue that they are giving away McCollum’s expiring contract to re-sign Young for another year, and Young has a $48.9 million player option for next season that he is expected to accept. Washington wants to be compensated for the extra salary, even though it has plenty of cap space because Josh Robbins Discussed in NBA Sports Daily Podcast. There could be a trade of picks, but don’t expect the Wizards to send away better picks than they get back in a trade, which has been their approach in the Jordan Poole trade and other trades.
Another thing to watch out for is contract extensions. Young hopes to join a team where he has the ball in his hands and where he can sign a long-term extension (he’s no longer a max-salary player in the tax-apron world of the NBA, but his command is still much higher than the average starter). Washington can get the ball in his hands, but they’ll want to see how he meshes well with the young players the team sees as part of its future — Alex Sarr, Ke’Shaun George, Trae Johnson, Boo Boo Carrington, Bilal Koulibaly — before discussing an extension. Young will pick his option and play out his next contract.
On offense, Young is a natural fit. Sarr has taken a big step forward this season, averaging 17.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and he should thrive with Young as his pick-and-roll partner. Additionally, Young’s gravity and passing will allow Johnson, George and others to perform better and cleaner in the halfcourt. The bottom line is, this is a team that wants to go out and run, and Young’s passing and playing style is a perfect fit for that.
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On the other end of the floor, Washington’s defense currently ranks 29th in the league, and there’s nothing Young can do about it.
What Young gives the Wizards is someone fans will pay to watch, someone who should make their offense interesting and win them some games (and maybe allow them to compete in a year) — all without giving up on anyone they consider to be a core part of their future. This is low risk. The Wizards can always expand Young if he fits with their existing core.
