Trae Young Notes: Wizards’ Statement, Extension, More

After the Hawks officially announced the completion of the Trae Young trade, the Wizards followed suit, issuing a press release to confirm that the deal is official. The team will hold a formal press conference at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on Friday to introduce its new point guard.

“We are excited to welcome Trae Young to the Washington Wizards,” general manager Will Dawkins said in a statement. “It is a rare opportunity to acquire a player of Trae’s skill, accomplishments, and age. Trae plays an exciting brand of basketball and brings a level of confidence and competitiveness that has set him apart in this league.”

Young, who revealed (via Twitter) that he’ll wear No. 3 with his new team (Elvin Hayes‘ No. 11 is retired), also published a statement of his own, making his first public comments since news of the trade agreement broke.

“Bringing a championship to Atlanta was always my goal,” Young wrote (via Twitter). “However, between the injuries, the setbacks, and situations that didn’t make sense, we never truly got to see our full potential. The city that raised me and taught me so much will always be a chapter in this story.

“However, the pain of staying the same eventually outweighed the uncertainty of change. Change is often met with fear, but I see it as another opportunity. I’m walking into his next chapter ecstatic, with my head high and my eyes forward. It’s time to see what’s possible when the support is real and the vision is clear. We move.”

Here’s more on Young in the wake of his move to Washington:

• The Wizards view Young as a “rare intersection of basketball impact and marketability,” writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal, citing sources. As Afseth explains, the organization has lacked recognizable stars since moving on from John Wall and Bradley Beal and hopes Young can be that type of figure going forward.
• There’s a strong expectation around the NBA that Young will sign a contract extension with the Wizards sooner or later, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst. Afseth suggests that Washington would likely be looking at a three-year deal, adding that it could be worth in the neighborhood of $120MM. That would be the same sort of contract that Brandon Ingram signed after being sent to Toronto in a similar mid-season trade a year ago.
• Like last season’s Ingram trade for the Raptors, this deal is considered a form of “pre-agency” for the Wizards, who project to have significant cap flexibility during the summer and are getting a head-start on their offseason, per Bontemps and Windhorst. ESPN’s duo adds that the Wizards are hopeful that Young’s impact on their young core can be similar to Chris Paul‘s with the Thunder in 2019 or Fred VanVleet‘s with the Rockets in 2023.
• In a mailbag, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tackles a series of questions about the Young trade, including how the 27-year-old guard will impact second-year center Alex Sarr, how Bub Carrington‘s role could change, and whether Young’s presence will affect their 2026 draft plans. Robbins also observes that – while the Wizards are optimistic about a longer-term future with Young – the cost to acquire him was so modest that it won’t be viewed as a disaster if things don’t work out and the two sides ends up parting ways in a year or two.