Atlanta Hawks Deal Trae Young to Washington Wizards

Cover Photo: Trae Young on Oct. 29, 2025 in a game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Young was traded on Wednesday night, Jan. 8, to the Washington Wizards after seven full seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. Photo credit: Frank Franklin II, Associated Press.

The Atlanta Hawks made a firm decision on the future of their franchise on Jan. 8, dealing four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for veteran guard C.J. McCollum and sharpshooting small forward Corey Kispert, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Earlier in the day, Young made it known that Washington was his preferred destination.

The 27-year-old playmaking guard has played just 10 games this season (28.0 minutes per game) due to a sprained MCL, and is averaging 19.3 points (41.5% shooting) and 8.9 assists per game. From the 2022-23 season through to 2024-25, Young averaged at least 24 points and 10 assists per game. His 11.6 assists per game in 2024-25 led the NBA. Young’s best season came in 2021-22, when he made All-NBA 3rd team with averages of 28.4 points (46.0% shooting) and 9.7 assists per game. In 493 career games, Young has averaged 25.2 points and 9.8 assists per game in 34.3 minutes per game. In 2021, he led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.

Young goes from a 17-21 Hawks’ team at the time of the deal to a 10-26 Wizards’ team. While the Hawks are clearly now building around young star forward Jalen Johnson (23.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists in 25-26), obtaining Young signals that the Wizards want to be competitive now versus waiting on the youth of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, and Bilal Coulibaly to develop by themselves. As Jan. 10, Sarr is averaging 17.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game in 2025-26, a jump from his 2024-25 averages of 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game as a rookie. George posted 28 points on Dec. 20 against the Memphis Grizzlies, and 23 points on Dec. 26 against the Toronto Raptors. He is 22 years old, and Coulibaly is just 21. Bub Carrington, another skillful guard, is 20 years old.

At 27, Young now becomes the leader of a talented group of young guys for a franchise that needs a culture reset. Young’s playmaking ability will be a seamless fit with the talented Sarr. The Wizards are six games back ironically of the Hawks in the standings, and have made this deal to make their team better not just immediately but in the long run with the still youthful Young. The guard has a player option for $48.9 million in 2026-27, as he is in the midst of a five-year, $215 million deal.

McCollum, 34, is due $30.7 million this season and is an unrestricted free-agent at season’s end. He is averaging 18.8 points on 45.4% shooting this season. He becomes the oldest player on the Hawks, four years the elder of Kristaps Porzingis. In his last game, on Jan. 6 versus the Orlando Magic, the veteran McCollum scored 27 points on 11-of-19 from the field and 3-of-7 from downtown. Kispert is averaging 9.2 points per game this season, and is a career 38.3% shooter from distance. On Jan. 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he scored 13 points.

In 2019-20, Young became the fifth player in NBA history to average at least 29 points and 9 assists in a season. He was also the first player in Hawks' franchise history to average 11 assists per game.