Trae Young is officially en route to a new team.
The Atlanta Hawks have traded away their multi-time All-Star point guard Young to the Washington Wizards, Shams Charania of ESPN reported Wednesday. Washington will sending guard CJ McCollum and forward Corey Kispert back to Atlanta in return, Charania adds.
Young, 27, had been the centerpiece of the Hawks franchise for the last several years. He made four All-Star teams with Atlanta, led the NBA in assists in 2025, and led the Hawks to an Eastern Conference Finals berth in 2021.
But the 6-foot-2 Young very quickly fell out of favor in Atlanta this season with the emergence of Jalen Johnson as a new foundational player as well as the development of newer ball-handlers such as Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. With the Hawks holding serve this season at 17-21 (10th in the Eastern Conference) despite Young missing significant time due to knee and quad injuries, they have decided to finally pull the plug on the Young era.
Atlanta is still doing right though by Young, who was their top-five draft pick back in 2018. Reports emerged earlier this week that the Wizards were Young’s preferred trade destination, and now the Hawks have managed to send him just there. With Young having been rumored to be unhappy in Atlanta for at least the last several months, this is about as amicable of a split as the two sides could have had.
As for the Wizards, they are a woeful 10-26 this season but are clearly looking at the long-term with Young. The former All-NBA selection Young is making $46 million this season with a $49 million player option for 2026-27. But Washington will obviously be looking to extend Young and bank on his 20-point, 10-assist upside to carry them for years to come.
