Trae Young joins the Wizards, teaming up with a supernova to usher in a new era.
2026-01-11 08:45
The Washington Wizards acquired four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade, a blockbuster move that marks the arrival of a new generation of leaders for the Wizards after a long rebuilding process.
In this trade, the Wizards sent veteran C.J. McCollum and forward Corey Kispert to the team. Most notably, the Wizards successfully acquired Trae Young, a player in his prime at 27 years old, without using any draft picks.
Although Trae Young missed Friday's game against New Orleans Daigo due to knee and quadriceps injuries, he showed up at the home arena in casual clothes and received a warm welcome from Washington fans.
Trae Young's top priority right now is getting healthy. He said, "Washington is a huge, undervalued market, and I see a fantastic opportunity here to be myself and lead the team to new heights."
The Wizards currently boast a wealth of promising young players under the age of 23, including Alex Sarr, Bab Carrington, and Bilal Koulibaly. Trae Young's top-tier output of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists per game is considered to greatly optimize the development environment for these young talents.
The team's management emphasized that Yang's arrival was not intended to deviate from the long-term rebuilding plan, but rather to allow the team's future puzzle to mature more quickly through the connection of an elite point guard.