‘TRA(D)E DAY’: Atlanta ships Trae Young to Washington Wizards

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

And there goes the end of the Trae Young era in Atlanta.

After eight seasons of wearing the red and white jersey, the superstar point guard is now headed to his new home, as the Atlanta Hawks traded him to the Washington Wizards in a move announced Jan. 8, 2026.

To formalize the deal package, the Wizards will be sending veteran scorer CJ McCollum and forward Corey Kispert to the Hawks, without any draft compensation involved.

Trade rumors of Young departing the Hawks already surfaced several days ago, but the move was verified by ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania.

Young’s start in Atlanta was nothing but a promising campaign after leading the franchise to an Eastern Conference finals appearance in just his third NBA season.

Unfortunately, the Hawks got eliminated by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, which eventually went on to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy five years ago.

Since that playoff run, huge expectations were already placed on the up-and-coming point guard, but an unexpected regression took place when the Young-led Hawks lost in back-to-back first-round trips from 2021 to 2023.

To make things worse, Atlanta went from a top-five Eastern Conference squad to a cellar-dwelling team when they missed the last two NBA postseason stages.

Young has played 10 games in the ongoing 2025-26 season and is averaging his worst statistics since his rookie year, tallying 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, and 1.5 rebounds per game.

The flashy floor general learned about the trade in the middle of Atlanta’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, where the Hawks snatched a one-sided 117-100 win.

According to Charania, Young’s departure will provide more financial flexibility to land a big name when free agency nears.

Several weeks ago, multiple reports confirmed that Atlanta is looking to acquire the services of Dallas’ frontcourt star Anthony Davis.

Does this make sense at all? Did Atlanta let go of Young to attract Davis this trade deadline?