Trae Young
Well folks, the Washington Wizards have finally opted to pull the trigger and acquire their star of the future. A few years at the bottom of the East later, this marks a big move for them in their rebuild.
Officially broken by Shams Charania on Wednesday January 7, the Wizards acquired 4X All-Star Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks. Heading back will be CJ McCollum, and Corey Kispert.
Since the amazing one-season wonder that was Russell Westbrook, the team has been in search of a franchise point guard. Bringing in a guy that has averaged double-digit assists per game three times should certainly help them start to turn a corner.
Let’s get into what this trade is going to mean for both of these teams. It was certainly quite surprising that Atlanta did not get any draft picks in the deal.
Trae Young Brings New Energy to Wizards
The Washington Wizards currently sit at #14 in the Eastern Conference. Making a trade for Trae Young may not put them into the play-in (six games back) right off the bat, but it should help move the needle. Finding an emerging star to help pilot the team is something that seems to have been a priority for them.
Plus, they didn’t have to move any picks in the deal.
For the first time in his Atlanta career, Young’s play has started to drop just a bit. Part of that has been the fact that Jalen Johnson had been emerging as the team’s big star. Dropping triple-doubles on the nightly and running the show effectively made the injured Young pretty expendable.
Even still, looking back at all the highlights that Young produced during his time in the A, a whole feature-length film can be put together.
Alex Sarr has taken a huge leap forward in his second season, really emerging as a shot-blocking presence. Bilal Coulibaly, when healthy, has done tremendous things on the defensive end, adding some occasional buckets to go with it.
First-round pick Tre Johnson has been able to score the ball well, while guys like Kyshawn George and Bub Carrington have shown flashes of being great.
Trae coming in will certainly elevate what the ceiling can be for Washington. And when that debut happens, the ovation will be loud.
NBA League Pass watchers just got a serious treat.
Next Steps for Atlanta Without Trae Young
Now that Trae Young is officially gone, it’s about what is next for the Atlanta Hawks. A team that has not won a playoff series since their Eastern Conference Finals trip in 2021, postseason success will be critical.
Jalen Johnson is now officially the top dog. Averaging a triple-double during the month of December certainly put him into elite company. The team generally plays well when he goes off, the sign of a guy that is becoming a serious star.
With Kristaps Porzingis finally back in the fold, the team has 48 minutes of veteran big man play, Onyeka Okongwu holding down the starting minutes. Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have done a marvelous job on the defensive end for this team, too.
The role CJ McCollum will have here is very much up in the air. Might he come in and play 30 minutes a night? Is it a case where they just buy him out and hold on to Corey Kispert? Speaking of, the forward should bring a nice scoring punch to the second unit that has been missing at times.
A big surprise though, that the team couldn’t get any draft picks in addition.
Whatever they choose to do, they should honor Trae when he returns as a visitor for the first time on February 24. That much is a given.