Lopsided deal

When the 27-year-old Trae Young became available in the trade market, the Washington Wizards wasted no time in getting the 4-time All-Star. With career averages of 25 points and 9 assists, he will be beneficial to the team’s young talents. His presence will also bring the fans back to the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC and it could potentially attract more talent in the coming offseason.

Interestingly, Luka Doncic and Young were the #3 and #5 picks of Atlanta and Dallas respectively during the 2018 Rookie Draft.  They were traded for each other and before they hit 30, both were given up by their franchises when trade market opened because they won’t give them contract extensions.

Luka is now the new face of the Lakers and all his positives considered, has also dethroned LeBron as the ‘king of whine’ with his constant complaining. The struggling Wizards still have to start the Young era, but it looks like a promising situation with the youthful core of Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George and rookie Tre Johnson.   Expect to often see a highlight-worthy Young-Sarr pick-and-roll.

Sarr is the league leader in blocked shots per game with 2.4 and he could compensate for Young’s defensive liability.

Young is still recovering from a knee injury and could be playing his first game as Wizard in a week or two and make an immediate impact.  He has only played 10 games this season, putting up 19.3 points and 9.3 assists.

Giving up on their franchise player, the Atlanta Hawks in return got CJ McCollum, who’s 7 years older than Young and Corey Kispert, solid role player, who described himself as not even a star.

The Hawks freed themselves of Young’s $49 million player option for the 2026-2027 season.  McCollum is on an expiring deal and chances are, he won’t be staying long in Atlanta.  Kispert has a manageable 2-year $27 million deal.

Since leading the Hawks to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run with Young, they haven’t won a playoff series since. Atlanta is moving on from the ‘Ice Trae’ era, even without draft compensation considering Young’s talent.