With both Trae Young and CJ McCollum ruled out on Wednesday, the Washington Wizards could be closing in on a trade ahead of the trade deadline
The Trae Young-Washington Wizards saga reached a new level on Wednesday after ESPN senior NBA inside Shams Charania reported that the Washington Wizards sit at the top of the Hawks' point guard's list of preferred destinations.
"Trae Young's Hawks tenure is coming to an end. He appears to be in his final days and weeks in Atlanta after seven plus seasons together as the face of that franchise. And I'm told both Trae Young and the Hawks know that he just doesnt't fit the current team anymore. We've seen the Hawks move and turn the page toward this young core - Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Onyeka Okongwu. So both sides are now collaborating on trade talks out of Atlanta, turning the page, seeing where else Trae Young can land to be the lead guard of a franchise elsewhere. And this really started in the offseason when the Hawks decided not to offer a contract extension to Trae Young and now Trae Young is seeking a team that could give him an extension. An also stemming from the fact that the Hawks have played better this season without Young in the lineup. And so here between now and the trade deadline, the Hawks can either move Trae Young, they can wait for his contract to get to an expiring deal in the offseason when he has a player option or he opts out and that gives them $40 million in cap space in the offseason. But Trae Young appears to be nearing the end of his career in Atlanta."
The news comes on the same day that Trae Young was ruled out for Wednesday's game with a right quad contusion with injuries limiting him to just ten games in 2025-26. The Washington Wizards are also without CJ McCollum for Wednesday's road game against the Philadelphia 76ers, in addition to both Kyshawn George and Khris Middleton. Whether that points to an imminent trade remains to be seen with a move appealingly becoming increasingly likely ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Marc Stein initially pointed to the Wizards as a realistic contender in the Trae Young sweepstakes earlier in the week.
"I don’t think he’s asking for a trade, but I don’t think he’s told them not to trade him," Stein said. "I’m hearing he’s open minded to being moved. He and [Kristaps] Porziņģis still haven’t really played much together and we don’t really know what that looks like, but without an extension, with Trae seemed to being blamed for a lot of the things, fair or unfair, I do think he would be open minded to a new uniform."
Young is averaging 19.3 points and nearly nine assists per game this season while shooting around 30% from three with injuries limiting him to just ten games this season.
Washington will look for its sixth win in eight games when they travel to face Philadelphia on Wednesday night.