atlanta hawks Four-time All-Star traded trey young till washington wizards For CJ McCallum And corey kispertSources told ESPN.
Young’s tenure as the face of the Hawks franchise ended after more than seven seasons and the 27-year-old was shipped off his favorite destination To become the chief protector for magicians in the nation’s capital. Washington’s top executives Michael Winger and Will Dawkins have been looking for an anchor for their rising young talent, and the franchise believes a trade is the next step in the organization’s development process amid a rebuild. It also connects Young with Wizards executive Travis Schlenk, who brought him to Atlanta A draft-night deal In 2018.
The Hawks are now ready to turn the page on a new era with the emergence jalen johnson, Nichelle Alexander-Walker, dyson daniels, Onyeka Okongwu And zachery rischarBringing a more fluid style of play around their wings and depth. Holding an expiring contract of $30.6 million, McCollum serves as a valuable plug-and-play veteran leader for the Hawks.
Moving also provides Young Atlanta with additional financial flexibility to land a larger salary over the next several months dallas mavericks star anthony davis As a prime trade target – before trading an incredibly valuable first-round selection in June, which is more favorable between New Orleans and Milwaukee’s selections.
Wednesday after 18-21 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 was on a trade last week. Representatives of the Hawks and Young have continued to negotiate their future over the past several months, ever since the franchise decided not to offer Young a contract extension.
“I know you all have questions for me that I’m not free to talk about or answer right now,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said after Wednesday’s win. While the trade has not yet been approved by the league.
Young has $95 million remaining on his deal through the 2026–27 season, which includes a player option in the offseason. After acquiring Young, the Wizards will shave $30 million off the luxury tax, open up a roster spot to continue making further moves and assets, and free up $46 million in cap room for the summer.
Sources said the Wizards are not expected to have immediate extension talks with Young and both sides will evaluate his health when he arrives in Washington.
Young, who dealt with a right MCL sprain early in the season and has recovered from residual pain from the injury, has been sidelined with a right quad injury that has kept him out of the past six games. He was on the bench in street clothes on Wednesday, left the bench area in the fourth quarter, then returned and left again for the final time with about 30 seconds remaining – shaking hands with some fans while heading to the locker room.
hawks power forward Mohammed Gueye He said that during the game he was not aware that the trade news had become public. He had nothing but high praise for Young.
“That’s TY that’s Trae Young,” Gueye said. “When I first came here, he was one of the first guys to message me, welcome me to town, give me a lot of advice. Obviously, playing with Trae as a big man is 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 3-pointers (1,295) and assists (4,837). He led Atlanta to the postseason three times, including a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. Okongwu is now the only player left on the Hawks’ roster from that team.
In 10 games this season, Young averaged 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, 1.5 rebounds, 41.5% field goal shooting and 30.5% from 3-point range in 28 minutes per contest. Meanwhile, McCollum is averaging 18.8 points, 3.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, shooting 45.4% from the field and 39.3% from 3.
Kispert has averaged 9.2 points and 39.5% from 3 in 19 games this season and adds to the Hawks’ wing depth.
An All-NBA selection in 2021-22, Young has career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists. He led the league in assists last season with 11.6 per game. Young has averaged 25 points and 10 assists over two seasons of his career (2022–23 and 2023–24), which is equal to Russell Westbrook for the second most such seasons in NBA history (followed by Oscar Robertson with five). Young has scored or assisted 48.1 points per game in his career, which ranks second in NBA history. luka doncic (48.9).
Young is the second player since the 1976–77 merger to average 25 points per game for a team in his first 400 career games, and retired before reaching game number 500. The first one was Young who was traded for Doncic on draft night in 2018.
The Wizards have allowed the sixth-fewest points per game (50.0) and fourth-fewest assists per game (11.9) from guards this season and rank 27th in offensive efficiency. The Hawks’ offense with Young has ranked as a top-15 offense in every season since Young’s sophomore campaign in 2019–20, including being the No. 1 offense in 2020–21 and 2021–22.
McCollum led Washington in scoring with 18.6 points per game this season, tying with the second-year 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 road loss In Philadelphia, both McCollum and Kispert remained out. They have not made the playoffs since losing in the first round in the 2020–21 season.
The Wizards’ 2026 first-round pick is top-eight protected from a previous trade with the Knicks. If they retain their first-round pick, they will send New York 2026 and 2027 second-rounders.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
