Trae Young isn’t quite ready to take the court just yet for the Washington Wizards, but that didn’t stop him from getting ejected on Monday night.
Young was thrown out of the Wizards’ 123-118 loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday after he ran onto the court and started complaining to the official. Young did not play in the contest and is actually set to make his Washington debut later this week after being acquired last month.
Advertisement
The incident started after Tari Eason shoved Jamir Watkins down to the ground hard as the Rockets were bringing the ball up the court in the third quarter at Capital One Arena. The shove seemed to come out of nowhere, which sparked a decent scrum on the floor.
Players and coaches quickly pulled the two players apart without incident. But Young came out onto the floor from the bench in street clothes and started complaining to the official on the baseline. That resulted in his automatic ejection.
Eason was hit with two technical fouls and ejected, too. Watkins and Sharife Cooper received one technical foul each for their response.
Advertisement
Young has not played since Dec. 27 due to knee and quadriceps injuries. He’s only appeared in 10 games all season and is averaging 19.3 points and 8.9 assists per game. The Wizards acquired Young in January in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. Young is set to make his debut with the Wizards on Thursday in their game against the Utah Jazz.
Young seemed to take the ejection well after the game, too.
The Rockets had little issue cruising to the win despite the second-half incident and a late push from Washington. Alperen Şengün led the way with 32 points and 12 rebounds, and Kevin Durant added 30 points. The Rockets shot just shy of 50% from the field and outrebounded Washington 59 to 27. That got Houston to 38-22 on the season.
Advertisement
Bilal Coulibaly led the Wizards with 23 points, and Cooper added 21 points off the bench. Despite their struggles, the Wizards went 19-of-35 from beyond the arc. Washington holds just a 16-44 record after Monday’s loss, which marked their fifth straight. It is well out of playoff contention entering the final stretch of the regular season.
And even though he’s not yet scored a single point in a Wizards uniform, that’ll come on Thursday, Young does have an ejection to his name. While maybe not ideal, it’s a start to his career in Washington.