It became known just a few days ago that the Atlanta Hawks were looking to move Trae Young, and things moved pretty quickly to make that happen.
After canvassing, the NBA didn’t appear to drum up much interest or any bidding war on the trade market. Young seemed to accept his fate and make the Washington Wizards — the one team reportedly interested in acquiring him — his preferred destination. Now, the Wizards have agreed to a deal to bring in Young, even though he could become a free agent this summer if he declines his player option.
BREAKING NEWS: The Washington Wizards have agreed to trade for Trae Young, sending CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks, sources tell @davidaldridgedc and @JoshuaBRobbins. pic.twitter.com/uvyorR6g8Q
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 8, 2026
Young was not playing during the Hawks’ game when reports of this trade initially circulated, but there were awkward handshakes and goodbyes.
No picks are involved in the deal for the four-time All-Star. The Wizards are sending CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Hawks. Is this a shocking return for Young? Let’s bust out the red pen and drop some grades on this trade.
Wizards acquire Trae Young
What does this Wizards team look like with Young at point guard? The Wizards are heavily in rebuilding mode and did a brilliant job this past year of clearing the books beyond 2026 so they could be major players in deals. Some of that was to acquire bad contracts that would require picks attached to them for Washington to foot the bill. That’s going to be an incredible currency in the second-apron era.
Yet, some of it was to capitalize on a situation in which a star player becomes available, and they don’t have to wonder whether they can afford this guy moving forward. That’s where Young comes into the picture.
The trade price for Young was unspeakably low. Jrue Holiday was traded for the rights to the Milwaukee Bucks’ recent first-round pick, two extra firsts and two pick swaps. Donovan Mitchell went for three firsts and two pick swaps, along with Lauri Markkanen. Neither of those guys is 13th in all-time scoring average or third in all-time assist average.
Young is. He’s 27 years old and in his prime, and all it took was McCollum and Kispert? That’s shocking, even if you’re not sold on Young as a guy who can lead your franchise.
For the Wizards, it’s pretty simple. They need a lead guard to organize this young core. The Wizards haven’t had a top-15 offense since 2018-19. They haven’t had a top-10 offense since the 2016-17 season, when they were eighth in the NBA. They were last in the league in offensive rating a year ago, and this team — as spirited as it is — is 27th.
The Wizards are in the bottom 10 in assist percentage, effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage. We’ve seen the Wizards play better defense the past couple of weeks, but their offense really can’t get going.
Young should be able to fix that problem — or at least improve it. Even though things aren’t going well for the Hawks with Young in the lineup, their offense is leagues better with him on the floor. It’s nearly seven points per 100 possessions better when he plays. The offense has only finished outside the top 15 once in the previous five seasons, and it was in the top 10 three times. Back in the 2021-22 season, Young orchestrated the Hawks to the second-best offense in the league.
By getting the ball from Young, the Wizards’ youth development can benefit greatly and in ways their current roster didn’t allow. Alex Sarr has taken a massive step forward in his second season, and you’d be shocked how difficult it is for the Wizards to throw him an entry pass. Or maybe you wouldn’t if you watched a quarter.
Rookie Tre Johnson can space the floor and is a perfect shooter to set up. Guys like Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George and Bub Carrington could benefit greatly from having the offense create their looks, rather than always having to do it themselves.
That’s all the good stuff. The bad stuff is that Young is a mediocre shooter, despite a Damian Lillard and Steph Curry-esque shot profile. He’s shot league average or better three times in his seven and a half seasons. In the last three and a half seasons, Young has shot 43.0 percent or worse from the field. He takes terrible shots, and he misses many of them.
Young also turns the ball over as much as anybody, owning one of the highest turnover rates in NBA history. You’re getting playmaking, but you’re also getting almost 75 percent of his turnovers coming from passes. Not to mention, Young is one of the league’s worst point-of-attack defenders.
For now, the defense doesn’t have to matter. The Wizards are looking to develop their young core on offense and maybe even sell some tickets and jerseys. Washington gave up very little for him and didn’t give up any draft compensation. And Young doesn’t present a long-term money issue. He has a player option just under $50 million next season.
The Wizards don’t have any big extensions looming, so even if they gave Young a two- or three-year deal this summer, they’ll be in great shape financially. This might be the perfect rental with a chance at long-term success. And if it doesn’t work out, they can cut the bait and maintain business as usual in their development process.
Grade: A
Hawks acquire CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert
You don’t have to be a Young fan to be flabbergasted by the Hawks not receiving a single iota of draft compensation for their franchise player. Just McCollum, who is on an expiring deal, and Kispert, who has two years and $27 million on his deal after this season. Even the most fervent Kispert and McCollum fans will be surprised that they didn’t have to bring any carry-on picks with them to Atlanta.
This is the same front office that received New Orleans’ unprotected 2026 pick in a draft deal to move from 13th to 23rd, so this group doesn’t lack savvy. Still, the Hawks have made mostly a salary dump.
McCollum will help with some of the offense this season. He hasn’t had great success as a lead guard since leaving Portland, but he can score and set guys up. He just needs to stay healthy. Kispert, 26, is on a good contract, and he’s a 38 percent career 3-point shooter. If the Hawks want them in the mix, these guys can contribute.
This is more about being done with the Trae Young experience, not investing in their franchise guy beyond this year and believing in what they’ve seen without him this season. Running the offense through Jalen Johnson, while also having much better team defense helped the Hawks go 16-13 without Young.
I mentioned above how much the offense struggles without Young this season, but the defense improves to 112.9 points allowed per 100 possessions. That would be in the top 10 over the course of the season. With Young on the floor, it was 126.2, which would be the worst in the NBA by over four points per 100 possessions.
The Hawks wanted a culture change, and they’re getting one. It would help if Kristaps Porziņģis were healthy, but the Hawks will need to prove this is the right move by finding a guard to lead the franchise at some point. And this hasn’t been the most well-run organization over the last … few decades?
However, the new front office is trying to change that. Selling this as addition by subtraction is one thing, and many people can look at the small sample and get behind this. Not getting a single draft pick for a 27-year-old with career averages of 25 points and nine assists, with the way some trades have happened, is out of the ordinary.
Right now, you have to judge it on what the Hawks are getting in return, regardless of how big you think the culture will positively change without Young. It will be possible to make a low grade look ridiculous in the future, but they have to prove that for more than just a few weeks.
Grade: D+