When Kristaps Porzingis landed with the Atlanta Hawks over the offseason, he anticipated playing the entire 2025-2026 NBA season with Trae Young.
That will no longer be the case. After his first few months in a Hawks uniform, Porzingis will watch Young hit the road and change teams for the first time in his career.
“The few minutes I spent with him, I was getting open looks all the time, of course, I wanted to spend [time] with him more, you know?” Porzingis said after hearing the news on Wednesday night.
“Obviously, he’s one of the best passers that I’ve played with, and I think everybody was benefiting from playing with him. Offensively, he’s really a wizard, and he’s an amazing player. I’m sad—I’m sad I didn’t get more time with him.”
Some wordplay from Kristaps Porzingis as he expressed some sadness over not getting to play with Trae Young more:
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) January 8, 2026
“Offensively, he was a wizard.” Pic.twitter.com/bTWmiHQwlg
Due to Young dealing with injury concerns throughout the first few months of the season, he only played a few games with Porzingis. Clearly, the veteran big man was intrigued with the fit, but the Hawks had other plans.
On Wednesday, the Hawks and the Washington Wizards struck a deal. Young is expected to join the Wizards, while CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert are the expected returning pieces for Atlanta. That trade just might be a stepping stone for more deals in the future.
McCollum lands in Atlanta on an expiring contract. Porzingis has one himself, which makes him an intriguing name to watch out of Atlanta for the next month.
Before Wednesday’s action, Porzingis appeared in 16 games with the Hawks. This season, he’s shooting 46 percent from the field and hitting on 34 percent of his threes. The veteran is producing 17.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game with the Hawks.
He won’t have a chance to continue building an on-court bond with the outgoing All-Star, but Porzingis will have a chance to build with the new additions soon enough.