The Atlanta Hawks are buying and selling four-time All-Star Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, sources instructed ESPN on Wednesday.
The commerce ends Younger’s stint because the face of the Hawks franchise after seven-plus seasons and sends the 27-year-old to his preferred destination within the nation’s capital to be the lead guard for the Wizards. Prime Washington officers Michael Winger and Will Dawkins have looked for an anchor for his or her burgeoning younger expertise, and the franchise believes the commerce is the following step within the group’s improvement course of amid a rebuild. It additionally reunites Younger with Travis Schlenk, the now-Wizards government who introduced him to Atlanta in a draft-night deal in 2018.
The Hawks at the moment are poised to show the web page to a brand new period with the emergence of Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu and Zaccharie Risacher, bringing a way more fluid type of mess around their wings and depth. McCollum serves as a useful plug-and-play veteran chief for the Hawks whereas holding a $30.6 million expiring contract.
Shifting Younger additionally offers Atlanta with monetary flexibility to pursue a big wage over the following a number of months — with Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis a chief commerce goal — forward of an extremely useful first-round decide in June that’s the extra favorable between New Orleans‘ and Milwaukee‘s picks.
At 18-21 after Wednesday’s home win towards the Pelicans, Atlanta is ninth within the Japanese Convention, however the Hawks have been 2-8 with Younger within the lineup.
Younger’s brokers — Aaron Mintz, Drew Morrison and Austin Brown — worked with Hawks basic supervisor Onsi Saleh on a commerce over the previous week. The Hawks and Younger’s representatives maintained dialogue about his future over the previous a number of months, ever for the reason that franchise elected to not provide a contract extension to Younger.
“I do know you all have questions for me that proper now I am not at liberty to speak about or reply,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder stated after Wednesday’s win, with the commerce having not been accepted by the NBA but.
Younger has $95 million remaining on his deal by way of the 2026-27 season, with a participant possibility within the offseason. After buying Younger, the Wizards will transfer $30 million under the posh tax, open a roster spot to proceed pursuing additional strikes and property, and clear $46 million in cap room for the summer time.
The Wizards will not be anticipated to have instant extension talks with Younger, and either side will consider his well being as soon as he arrives in Washington, sources stated.
Younger, who handled a proper MCL sprain early within the season and has managed residual ache from the harm, has been sidelined due to a proper quad contusion that has stored him out of the previous six video games. He was on the bench in avenue garments Wednesday, left the bench space within the fourth quarter, then returned and left once more for the ultimate time with about 30 seconds left, slapping fingers with just a few followers as he headed towards the locker room.
Hawks energy ahead Mouhamed Gueye stated he did not know through the sport that the commerce information had grow to be public. He had nothing however excessive reward for Younger.
“That is T.Y. That is Trae Younger,” Gueye stated. “After I first received right here, he was one of many first guys that texted me, welcoming me to the town, gave me numerous recommendation. Clearly, taking part in with Trae, as an enormous, is sort of a dream come true. I like him as a man. I like him as a teammate. … An Atlanta legend.”
Younger is the Hawks’ all-time chief in 3-pointers (1,295) and assists (4,837). He led Atlanta to the postseason thrice, together with a run to the Japanese Convention finals in 2021. Okongwu is now the one participant left on the Hawks’ roster from that workforce.
In 10 video games this season, Younger averaged 19.3 factors, 8.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 28 minutes per evening whereas taking pictures 41.5% from the sector and 30.5% from 3-point vary. McCollum, in the meantime, was averaging a Wizards-high 18.8 factors together with 3.6 assists and three.5 rebounds per sport whereas taking pictures 45.4% from the sector and 39.3% from 3.
Kispert, who provides to the Hawks’ wing depth, has averaged 9.2 factors and is taking pictures 39.5% from 3 in 19 video games this season.
An All-NBA choice in 2021-22, Younger has profession averages of 25.2 factors and 9.8 assists per sport. He led the league in assists final season with 11.6 per sport. Younger has averaged 25 factors and 10 assists in two seasons in his profession (2022-23, 2023-24), tied with Russell Westbrook for the second-most such seasons in NBA historical past (Oscar Robertson leads with 5). Younger has scored or assisted on 48.1 factors per sport in his profession, second most in NBA historical past behind Luka Doncic (48.9).
Younger is the second participant for the reason that 1976-77 merger to common 25 factors per sport for a single workforce in his first 400 profession video games and be traded away earlier than reaching sport No. 500. The primary was the person Younger was traded for on draft evening in 2018, Doncic.
The Wizards have obtained the sixth-fewest factors per sport (50.0) and fourth-fewest assists per sport (11.9) from guards this season and are twenty seventh in offensive effectivity. The Hawks’ offense with Younger on the ground ranked as a top-15 offense in each season since his second marketing campaign in 2019-20, together with being the No. 1 offense in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Washington is 10-26 and 14th within the East however had received 5 of seven video games earlier than Wednesday’s road loss in Philadelphia, with each McCollum and Kispert held out. The Wizards haven’t made the playoffs since shedding within the first spherical within the 2020-21 season.
The Wizards’ 2026 first-round decide is top-eight protected against a earlier commerce with the New York Knicks. If their first-round decide is retained, they’ll ship New York 2026 and 2027 second-rounders.
Info from The Related Press was used on this report.
