The Atlanta Hawks are trading four-time All-Star Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, sources told ESPN.
The trade ends Young's run as the face of the Hawks franchise after more than seven seasons and sends the 27-year-old to his preferred destination in the nation's capital to be the Wizards' primary point guard. Washington top officials Michael Winger and Will Dawkins have sought an anchor for their burgeoning young talent, and the franchise believes the trade is the next step in the organization's development process amid a rebuild. It also reunites Young with Wizards executive Travis Schlenk, who brought him to Atlanta in a draft-night deal in 2018.
The Hawks are now set to turn the page into a new era with the emergence of Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu and Zaccharie Risacher, bringing a much more fluid style of play around their wings and depth. McCollum serves as a valuable plug-and-play veteran leader for the Hawks while on an expiring $30.6 million contract.
Moving Young also gives Atlanta more financial flexibility to pursue a big salary over the next few months, with Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis the top trade target ahead of an incredibly valuable first-round pick in June, which is the most favorable among the New Orleans and Milwaukee picks.
At 18-21 after Wednesday's home win against the Pelicans, Atlanta is ninth in the Eastern Conference, but the Hawks were 2-8 with Young in the lineup. Young's agents (Aaron Mintz, Drew Morrison and Austin Brown) worked with Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh on a trade over the past week. Representatives for the Hawks and Young have been in dialogue about his future over the past few months, ever since the franchise decided not to offer Young a contract extension.
“I know you all have questions for me that I'm not at liberty to discuss or answer at this time,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said after Wednesday's win, as the trade has not yet been approved by the league.
Young has $95 million remaining on his contract through the 2026-27 season, with a player option in the offseason. After acquiring Young, the Wizards will move $30 million under the luxury tax, open up a roster spot to continue pursuing more moves and assets, and free up $46 million in cap space for the summer.
The Wizards are not expected to have immediate extension talks with Young, and both sides will evaluate his health once he arrives in Washington, sources said.
Young, who dealt with a sprained right collateral ligament earlier in the season and has managed residual pain from the injury, has been sidelined with a right quadriceps contusion that has kept him out of the past six games. He was on the bench in plain clothes Wednesday, left the bench area in the fourth quarter, then returned and left again one last time with about 30 seconds left, slapping the hands of some fans as he headed toward the locker room.
Hawks power forward Mouhamed Gueye said he didn't know during the game that the trade news had become public. He had nothing but high praise for Young.
“That's TY. That's Trae Young,” Gueye said. “When I first got here, he was one of the first ones to text me welcoming me to the city and gave me a lot of advice. Obviously, playing with Trae, as a big man, is like a dream come true. I love him as a man, I love him as a teammate… An Atlanta legend.”
Young is the Hawks' all-time leader in 3-pointers made (1,295) and assists (4,837). He led Atlanta to the postseason three times, including a run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021. Okongwu is now the only player remaining on the Hawks' roster from that team.
In 10 games this season, Young averaged 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, 1.5 rebounds, 41.5% shooting from the field and 30.5% from 3-point range in 28 minutes per game. McCollum, for his part, has averaged 18.8 points, 3.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 45.4% in field goals and 39.3% in triples.
Kispert has averaged 9.2 points on 39.5% from 3 in 19 games this season and adds to the Hawks' wing depth.
Young, an All-NBA selection in 2021-22, has career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists. He led the league in assists last season with 11.6 per game. Young has averaged 25 points and 10 assists in two career seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24), tied with Russell Westbrook for the second-most such seasons in NBA history (Oscar Robertson leads with five). Young also scored or assisted 48.1 points per game in his career, the second most in NBA history behind Luka Doncic (48.9).
Young is the second player since the 1976-77 merger to average 25 points per game for a single team in the first 400 games of his career, and be traded before reaching game number 500. The first was the man Young was traded for on draft night in 2018, Doncic.
The Wizards have received the sixth-fewest points per game (50.0) and the fourth-fewest assists per game (11.9) from guards this season and rank 27th in offensive efficiency. The Hawks' offense with Young on the court has ranked in the top 15 in every season since Young's sophomore campaign in 2019-20, including the No. 1 offense in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
McCollum led Washington in scoring this season with 18.6 points per game, with second-year center Alex Sarr right behind him at 17.2. The Wizards are 10-26 and 14th in the East, but had won five of seven games before Wednesday's loss in Philadelphia, with McCollum and Kispert out. They have not made the playoffs since losing in the first round of the 2020-21 season.
The Wizards' 2026 first-round pick is top-eight protected from a previous trade with the Knicks. If their own first-round pick is retained, they will send the 2026 and 2027 second-rounders to New York.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
