The Trae Young era is officially over in Atlanta. Now, a new phase with the Washington Wizards will begin.
The Hawks officially shipped Young to the Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert on Friday in sneaky-good deal for Washington, which landed the star without giving up any of its young core.
The Wizards feature a plethora of young talent, including Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George and Tre Johnson. All five are 22 or younger, with Johnson being the spriest of the bunch at 19.
With so many up-and-comers, the Wizards desperately needed a star to anchor the youthful group moving forward. Enter Young.
Young has endured a down year largely due to knee and quad injuries limiting him to just 10 games. In those appearances, he’s averaging 19.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 8.9 assists on 41.5 per cent shooting. However, based on his track record, we know exactly what he’s capable of.
The 27-year-old has averaged double-digit assists in each of the past three seasons, and in his first four campaigns, he never posted fewer than 8.1 assists per game. He holds career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists.
Last season, Young’s 11.6 assists per game were a league-high, and he made his fourth all-star appearance. He should provide the types of looks the Wizards’ young stars have never seen before.
Young’s assist total this season would place him fourth leaguewide had he played enough games. It also instantly makes him the assist leader on the Wizards; their current leader, George, averages just 5.1 assists. Next highest is Carrington with 4.4 per game, and no other player averages more than 3.1 per contest.
As a team, the Wizards sit 18th in the NBA in assists (25.4) and 20th in assist percentage (60.9 per cent). They are also 23rd in the NBA in their percentage of points created from an assist (65.6).
Adding Young to control the offence is the perfect piece to push them to the next level and elevate their playmaking capabilities. He can run a dangerous pick-and-roll scheme with Sarr, Coulibaly and Johnson, giving them endless options to attack the rim.
The Wizards rely heavily on pick-and-roll scoring, using the play the second-most in the NBA. Young should slot into that nicely considering his relentlessness in those scenarios — he averaged a league-leading 11.5 points as a pick-and-roll ball handler last season.
Young, a career 35.1 per cent shooter from three, will also add another option to space the floor for the Wizards.
Where the former all-NBA guard could shine is in big-game moments — granted, that could likely only happen if he stays with the Wizards past this season. (He has a $49 million player option for next season).
Young hasn’t had a ton of success winning in the post-season, but he has done quite well personally, holding career averages of 26.4 points, nine assists and 3.4 rebounds in 27 career post-season games.
Young thrived in NBA Cup games as well, eliminating the New York Knicks in the quarterfinals last season before rolling an imaginary die on their logo for the world’s enjoyment.
Still, it should stand out that Young’s success typically comes on the offensive end of the floor, as he has been one of the league’s worst defenders since being drafted in 2018.
Young has a very small frame and stands just six-foot-two, making him an easy target for opposing offences — a tactic that was on display during his time with the Hawks due to them not having any great defensive centres to bail him out. Atlanta started Clint Capela at the five for most of Young’s tenure before transitioning to Onyeka Okongwu last season.
Yes, you can say he had Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels on his wings, but they were marking their own men and couldn’t bail him out all the time.
Young should have more protection in Washington with Sarr standing behind him, and it’ll better deflect away from his shortcomings. Sarr leads the NBA in blocks per game (2.3), and he holds his opponents to 47.7 per cent shooting as the closest defender, which is even more impressive as a centre with most of his defence happening in the paint. Any guard that blows by Young will have to face the seven-foot Frenchman behind him.
Acquiring Young is a low-risk, high-reward scenario for Washington. The Wizards added a former all-star without giving up much at all, and if all goes to plan, Young should push the Wizards to the next step of their rebuild.
The Wizards reportedly may hold Young out for the rest of the season for rehab, and it doesn’t hurt that they still have eyes on a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
If that’s the case, the Wizards should hope Young takes his player option or signs a short-term deal to give Washington a chance to see how he fits running its offence. Nonetheless, things appear to be looking up for the Wizards.
