Unveiling the Hawks' 1-for-2 trade: Young had long desired to join Washington, Wizards may emulate Raptors' approach to handling Ingram

On January 8th Beijing time, the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards reached a trade agreement: four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young is set to join Washington, while the Wizards’ experienced combo guard CJ McCollum and forward Corey Kispert will move to Atlanta.

The 27-year-old Trae Young and his representatives have recently been collaborating with Hawks management to secure a new destination for him. Although the Wizards are in a rebuilding phase, some of their young players have already shown growth potential this season, making this an ideal place for Trae Young to rejuvenate both his physical condition and professional reputation.

Trae Young was once the cornerstone of the Hawks' long-term building strategy, but increasing evidence suggests the team performed better without him on the court. Between November 1 and December 15, he missed 22 games due to a knee sprain, during which the Hawks achieved a 13-9 record.

Young returned from injury on December 19, playing in 5 games (with the Hawks going 0-5 during this stretch), before sustaining a right quadriceps contusion on December 28 that sidelined him again. His knee sprain has not fully healed yet, and the Wizards have stated they will give him ample time to recover completely. He holds a player option worth $49 million for the 2026-27 season.

According to league insiders, since the Hawks did not offer Young a contract extension either this summer or during the current season, he and his agent had identified the Wizards as a preferred trade destination months ago. Washington not only urgently needs a point guard to lead their future but also offers a youth-focused rebuild and roster flexibility, which Young’s team sees as an opportunity to build a suitable lineup around him—provided both sides aim for a long-term partnership.

Travis Schlenk, the Wizards’ Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, is one of the key reasons Trae Young is eager to join the team.Schlenk, a former Hawks basketball operations president, selected Trae Young fifth overall in the 2018 NBA Draft (trading the third pick used on Luka Dončić and acquiring Cameron Reddish) and assembled the Hawks squad that reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. Schlenk left the Hawks in December 2023 and joined Washington’s front office in June 2023, working alongside basketball operations president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins.

For Trae Young, the trust relationship with Schlenk will help him integrate into the Wizards. His departure from Atlanta was quite awkward; as a former team cornerstone, many blamed him for the Hawks’ poor performance this season. This trust will undoubtedly relieve some of his psychological burden.

This trade allows the Wizards to evaluate Trae Young’s fit with their young core during the remainder of this season and most of the 2026-27 season. These young players include center Alex Len, playmaking forward Keion Brooks, forward Bilal Coulibaly, shooting guard Trey Johnson, and combo guard Baba Kerrington.The team believes Trae Young’s strong ball-handling pressure can unlock the offensive potential of these young players.

With his diverse scoring ability and excellent court vision, Trae Young is expected to help the Wizards’ young players realize part of their potential. He can create open perimeter shots for teammates and serve as an elite pick-and-roll partner for Alex Len.

Trae Young has averaged over 10 assists per game for three seasons, leading the league last season with 11.6 assists per game, demonstrating a strong willingness to pass. However, he is also a high-usage guard, and this ball-dominant style has led many in the league to believe Hawks teammates preferred a more balanced distribution of ball control.

How players like Brooks, Kerrington, and Johnson perform alongside Trae Young will be a crucial factor for the Wizards’ coaching staff and management in assessing whether he fits the team’s long-term lineup. This is undoubtedly a gamble—The Wizards’ young core has never worked with a dominant personality player like Trae Young before. However, the Wizards acquired Young without giving up any draft picks this time.

Although both the young players and management praise McCollum’s on-court impact and off-court mentorship, he does not fit the team’s long-term plans. Prior to the trade, it was predicted that the Wizards would have about $80 million in salary cap space in the summer of 2026. Even if Young exercises his $49 million player option for 2026-27, it will not hinder the team’s ability to sign other free agents during the 2026 offseason.

Before the trade, the Wizards lacked a clear long-term solution at point guard. McCollum and Kerrington shared ball-handling duties, Brooks acted as a playmaking forward, and Coulibaly sometimes pushed the ball forward. Kerrington has improved significantly in three-point shooting this season, currently hitting 42.0%, though some within the team believe he is better suited for off-ball roles.

The Hawks received McCollum, a veteran entering his 13th NBA season, who is averaging 18.8 points per game this season with a 39.3% three-point shooting rate. Between December 27 and January 7, he led the Wizards to 5 wins in 7 games, including a game-winning jumper with 1.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The 26-year-old Kispert is a forward in his fifth NBA season, with a career three-point shooting percentage of 38.3%, and is well-regarded within the Wizards for his professionalism. However, due to sufficient young player depth at the forward position, Kispert has become a tradable asset.

In the Wizards’ away game against the Philadelphia 76ers, both McCollum and Kispert were listed as inactive due to right quadriceps soreness for McCollum and a recent hamstring strain for Kispert requiring rest.

League insiders speculate that the Wizards pushed for this trade not only to acquire Trae Young but also to move on from McCollum.

The Wizards must send a 2026 first-round pick with top-eight protection to the New York Knicks. Given this obligation and the abundance of potential stars in the 2026 draft, the Wizards have strong motivation to accumulate losses this season to protect this first-round pick—if the team finishes among the bottom four in the league, they will retain the pick. The fourth-worst team in the lottery is guaranteed no worse than the eighth pick, allowing the Wizards to keep this first-rounder and instead send second-round picks in 2026 and 2027 to the Knicks to fulfill the trade requirement.

If Trae Young’s playing time remains limited for the rest of this season, moving McCollum will also help reduce the Wizards’ win total.

The Athletic notes that the Raptors’ handling of Brandon Ingram last season might offer the Wizards a reference for managing Trae Young over the next few months.Ingram suffered an ankle sprain on December 7, 2024, and missed the remainder of the season, including games after the New Orleans Pelicans traded him to the Raptors on February 6, 2025. The Raptors finished that season with a 30-52 record and secured the ninth pick in the draft lottery.