In his first media address with the Wizards, Young established his ambition of becoming even better, leading the team's young core and leaving his mark in Washington.
Trae Young stands determined to pursue his next chapter as a Washington Wizard with a clear goal of strengthening his mark as one of the league's best and helping the franchise take the next step.
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"For me, there’s a lot of different directions I could have went as far as my goals and what I want my legacy to be at the end of the day," he said in his first introductory press conference with the Wizards. "For me, just being able to have an impact on my teammates and people around me, I feel like I did a good job with that as a young player in Atlanta. Being able to be a vet and doing it with these young guys here, I feel like I have more experience and more things that I can give these young guys, and I’m just super excited.
"For me, DC is overlooked as far as a big market. In the NBA, I feel like this is a big market, and I feel like I’m able to come into an opportunity to be myself."
Young was acquired by the Wizards in a major deal that sent CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks.
This marks the end of run of Young as the franchise centerpiece in Atlanta, leading the franchise for eight seasons as a four-time All-Star which is highlighted by a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.
The path that led to Young's exit in Atlanta has been unfortunate. Since their East Finals campaign, both sides have relatively underachieved. The star guard endured injury issues this season that limited his appearances to just 10 games. As such, his numbers took a significant decline with just 19.5 points average in 41.5 percent shooting (30.5 percent from three).
Besides aiming to redeem his reputation and career, a new challenge awaits Young in Washington leading the team's up-and-coming group.
Bannered by Alex Sarr, the Wizards are seeking a bright future. The rebuilding team features several other talented young stars from Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly and Tre Johnson.
For Young, he couldn't be more determined to embrace the opportunity of leading this Wizards team while trying to leave a mark on people in his fresh start in D.C.
"I just want to get better each and every day. I know I’m not a finished product. I know people look at me as a finished product sometimes, and I don’t know," he said. "I just got so much to improve on, on the court, off the court, and I feel like I’ve gotten so much better. My goal is I just want to bring the best out of these young guys as far as on the court. When I’m able to be right and get on the court, I mean, show that I can bring the best out of this team and these young guys that I’m around and hopefully make an All-Star too."
He added: "I’m going to be out in the community on holidays, summertimes, things like that. I’m going to be around, and that’s what I want my legacy to be, more than basketball."
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