'Opportunity to be myself': Trae Young savors fresh start with Wiz – ESPN

Trae Young says that Washington is “overlooked” as a basketball market and that he is excited to join the Wizards. (1:33)
WASHINGTON — Wizards basketball has not offered much to cheer about for years in the nation’s capital. The Wizards have not been to the playoffs since 2021 and entered Friday with 10 wins in 36 games. Washington’s home attendance is also one of the lowest in the NBA.
The Wizards expect change at the excitement, win and fan participation levels once newcomer star Trae Young dons their uniform at a to-be-determined time.
“He plays an exciting brand of basketball that we’re looking forward to seeing here,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said during a news conference at Capital One Arena on Friday. “He just plays with a level of confidence, a level of competitiveness that we feel like we’d like to add. It’s what sets him apart when you watch him play against the other guards in the league. Happy to have him here.
“Trae has been a force since he got in the league, day one, rookie year. He evolved into one of the best, elite, proven playmakers. That’s something that we’re going to be continuing to look for while he’s here.”
Young was officially traded to the Wizards on Friday from Atlanta for veteran guard CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. The four-time NBA All-Star starred in Atlanta since 2018, averaging 25.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game while shooting .432 from the field and .351 from 3. The sharpshooter has averaged 19.3 points and 8.9 assists in a mere 10 games this season. He has missed six straight games with a quad contusion.
The limping 6-foot-1, 180-pounder was sidelined during Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans due to a right quad contusion and right knee MCL sprain. Young said the Wizards will determine when he debuts. His new head coach Brian Keefe offered no timetable when asked if Young would play during the remainder of the season. The Wizards’ No. 1 pick in the touted 2026 NBA draft is top-eight protected.
“I know it’s a day-by-day process,” Young said about turning the Wizards around. “I know what it takes. It’s not going to be easy. But I know this is a place that I’m excited about and I was excited about whenever I heard it could be a possibility.”
Said Keefe: “It is a really exciting time for our organization. It’s someone who is going to enhance our team and enhance the growth of our players. Specifically our young players. We’re getting an elite playmaker.”
Young is in the midst of a five-year, $215 million max contract with a player option of $49 million for next season. The expectation is that the Young and the Wizards will come to a contract extension agreement next offseason. Dawkins was in a similar situation as vice president of basketball operations with the Oklahoma City Thunder in which the franchise acquired Paul George via trade before re-signing him to a four-year, $137 million max deal June 30, 2018.
Re-signing Young will be a major step for the Wizards, who have lacked a superstar since the departures of John Wall and Bradley Beal. While there appears to be a feeling-out process on both sides, Young spoke as if he plans to be around long term. The 27-year-old added that he is excited about his young teammates such as Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly and rookie Tre Johnson and plans to ask his them to come to Los Angeles in the offseason to work out with him. Moreover, Young said that he plans to make an impact off the court in D.C., and that he was impressed by McCollum’s recent positive words about the Wizards’ organization.
“They’re talking about the arena [renovations], the lower [bowl] part,” said Young, who toured the renovated Capital One Arena on Thursday night and had dinner with Dawkins. “Everything that is new right now, it’s ridiculous. I can’t wait till it’s fully finished in a couple years. It’s on its way up. I hope I’m a piece of this puzzle on the way with it.”
What also aided Young’s comfort level in Washington is that Wizards senior vice president of player personnel Travis Schlenk chose him with the fifth pick to Atlanta in the 2018 NBA draft. Dawkins has been aware of the Norman, Oklahoma, native since he was 12 years old and his father, Rayford, was bringing him to countless Thunder games. With No. 11 retired in Washington in honor of Elvin Hayes, Dawkins noted that Young changed from wearing No. 11 in Atlanta to No. 3, his old Norman North High School jersey number, with the Wizards.
Dawkins said the Oklahoma connection made it “more comfortable” for the Wizards to make a deal for the former University of Oklahoma star.
“There’s a lot of ties there being in Oklahoma City,” Dawkins said. “It’s a small town. He’s from Norman. My wife is from Norman. Her whole family lives there. He went to OU. My wife’s family works at OU, went to OU. Known him for a very long time. When you are in a city like that, you have player of the year-type candidates in high school and college; it is very easy to see him. You see him in the different gyms, you know his family, you know what he’s about, you know the fiber that he comes from.
“Always kept in touch with the family, kept in touch with him once he became a professional player watching through the ranks. The other thing, having Travis Schlenk, who drafted him, one of our head VP decision makers on the evaluation space. The connectivity they had. It made it a lot easier when you’re doing background research to know you know people who truly know his family and the truly know the kid.”
Said Young: “I just feel like I’m being able to come into an opportunity to be myself. I’m around people that obviously have known me for a long time, known the type of person I am, the type of winner I want to be.”
Young departs Atlanta as the franchise’s career leader in assists (4,837) and made 3-pointers (1,295) while ranking fourth in made free throws (3,276), sixth in points (12,413) and ninth in made field goals (3,921). He also led the Hawks to the 2023 Eastern Conference finals. Young, however, was not offered a contract extension by the Hawks’ new regime led by first-year general manager Onsi Saleh.
A source close to Young told Andscape on Monday morning that the star was open to departing the Hawks via trade but wasn’t going to ask for one. By Monday afternoon, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Young’s representatives and the Hawks were going to work on a trade, which ultimately was consummated with Washington days later. A source added that Young hoped to leave Atlanta on good graces with the city and Hawks fan base after viewing Kevin Durant’s tenuous departure from the Thunder in 2017.
“I loved it. I enjoyed it. For me, going there as a 19-, 20-year-old, it was a dream come true being able to be drafted there,” Young said. “I have nothing but love and respect to the Ressler family. It was kind of their beginning of being in Atlanta, too. Going in there at the same time with them, it was a dream come true.
“I’m happy that I had that. I feel like I needed that to be where I’m at today. Going forward, I think that everything I learned there is just going to make me the better player and the better person I need to be for this organization going forward. I’m just so thankful for my time there. But I’m excited about this next one.”

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