Trae Young bid farewell to the Atlanta Hawks with optimism about clearer vision and real support, as the franchise officially moved on and committed to a new era built around its emerging young core.
Trae Young marked the end of his Atlanta Hawks tenure with a brief, pointed message, posting a farewell that framed his departure as a reset rather than a regret as the Hawks finalized a trade sending the All-Star guard to the Washington Wizards.
“I’m walking into this next chapter with my head high and my eyes forward,” Young wrote on social media. “It’s time to see what’s possible when the support is real and the vision is clear. We move.”
Shortly after Young’s post, the Hawks and the Washington Wizards announced the deal, which sends Young to Washington in exchange for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert. No draft picks were included. The trade ends an eight-year run in which Young spent his entire NBA career with Atlanta after being selected fifth overall in the 2018 draft.
The timing made the moment especially stark. The trade was executed during a Hawks home game, with Young sitting on the bench in street clothes. After receiving brief embraces and last-second well wishes from teammates, he exited the court and headed toward the locker room, effectively closing his chapter with the franchise before the game concluded.
The move came together after days of mounting signals that Atlanta and Young were headed toward a separation. Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein reported earlier this week that Washington had emerged as a leading destination, and the trade was completed with cooperation between the Hawks, Young and his representatives.
Young’s final season in Atlanta was shaped heavily by injuries and availability. He appeared in the first five games of the 2025–26 season before missing the next 23 with an MCL sprain. During that stretch, the Hawks went 13–10 without him. Young returned in mid-December, posting eight points and 10 assists in his first game back, but has missed additional games this month because of a right quad contusion.
The on-court split mirrored the broader organizational shift. Atlanta is 2–8 in games Young played this season and 15–13 without him, increasingly leaning on a younger rotation as it evaluated its long-term direction.
At 27, Young is in the fourth year of a five-year, $215 million contract. He was eligible for a four-year extension this offseason, but the Hawks did not make a long-term offer. He is earning $46 million this season and holds a $49 million player option for next year, financial considerations that played a central role in Atlanta’s decision to move on.
The trade allows the Hawks to commit fully to a younger core that includes Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, all signed through at least the 2027–28 season. McCollum’s expiring contract also provides Atlanta with added flexibility as it looks ahead to future roster moves.
For Washington, the deal brings a new face of the franchise to a team in need of star power. The Wizards sit at 10–26, second-worst in the Eastern Conference, and have not had an All-Star since Bradley Beal in 2021. Young arrives averaging 19.3 points and 8.9 assists this season, still among the league’s most prolific playmakers when healthy.
Whether the Wizards can build sustained success around Young remains uncertain. But his own words set the tone for what comes next. The message was not about what ended in Atlanta, but about what he believes is possible moving forward.