The Atlanta Hawks are going through a rough patch this season. They’re currently sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings, and things just got tougher for them.
On January 9, they lost their star player, Trae Young. It was when he was traded to the Washington Wizards. It’s a massive blow for Atlanta. But for Young, it’s a fresh start. And he’s already making his feelings about his new team very clear.
Trae Young’s New Mindset About His New Team
In his first press conference as a Wizard Young was asked what he thinks about the potential of the Washington Wizards. He didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“You don’t wanna go somewhere and just expect to lose your whole time there… This is a day-by-day process, including the summertime. I can’t wait to bring those guys out to LA to work out with me this summer… You never know. It happened faster than I expected in my last place,” said Young during the interview.
But Young didn’t stop there. He also opened up about his mentality going into this new chapter. Young made it clear that he’s coming to Washington ready to lead and compete.
“I mean, I’m coming over here, doing these physicals. They want to make sure I’m right and things like that. Obviously, I’ve been playing through some stuff early on, but I just got to leave it up to them and make sure that, because obviously they want to make sure I’m right, and I do too.”
“I don’t want to come back and not be myself for this, this team, for the city. So I’ll just leave it up to them and make sure they let you know when I’m coming back. Hopefully soon,” Young added during the interview.
Young’s journey to this point has been quite the ride. He spent seven and a half seasons wearing a Hawks jersey after being picked fifth overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks.
On draft night, he was immediately sent to Atlanta in a swap for the third pick, Luka Dončić. While that trade comparison has followed him around, Young carved out his own legacy in Atlanta.
But this season turned into a crossroads moment. The Hawks chose not to offer Young a contract extension, which raised plenty of eyebrows. On top of that, injuries became a real problem. He sat out 22 games because of knee troubles and only appeared in 10 games this year due to ongoing knee and quad issues.
Even though he was eligible for a four-year extension deal, Atlanta didn’t put one on the table last offseason. Despite all that, Young still led the entire NBA in assists per game during the 2024-25 season. He’s currently in year four of his massive five-year contract worth $215 million.
Here’s where things get interesting, though. There’s a twist to Young’s time in Washington that fans need to know about.
According to an Athletic reporter, Young might not see as much court time with the Wizards as everyone expects this season. One league insider even suggested that Washington plans to be extremely careful with Young’s recovery process.
The reason? They don’t want to risk losing their top-eight protected first-round pick in 2026, which would go to the Knicks if they’re not careful. Basically, this whole trade was about building for the future, not about making a playoff push right now in 2026.
“‘This is what life is like under our [draft] lottery system, with partially protected draft picks,” one executive said. ‘You have one team [the Hawks] that doesn’t have its pick trading a player because they were losing too much when he was playing,'” read a part of the report from ESPN.
So what does all this mean? Well, it remains to be seen what actually happens. Young sounds ready to go, but the Wizards might pump the brakes on his comeback.
