Why Wizards trading for Trae Young would be a massive mistake

Billy Heyen

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Why Wizards trading for Trae Young would be a massive mistake image

The Washington Wizards are looking more and more like the team that is going to get Trae Young in a trade from the Atlanta Hawks.

"Trae Young has the Washington Wizards as his top preferred trade destination, sources tell ESPN," Shams Charania posted on X on Wednesday afternoon.

Young has evidently worn out his welcome in Atlanta, where he was the face of the franchise for years.

But when Young was out injured this season, the Hawks played better, and they realized Jalen Johnson is the ideal guy to lead them into the future.

Thus, the comfort from Atlanta in trading Young.

Washington would likely have to include C.J. McCollum going the other way to start the momentum toward matching salaries. 

And, well, there are multiple reasons that this wouldn't be as good a deal for the Wizards as it might first appear.

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Why a Wizards trade for Trae Young would be a mistake

There are two major layers to this that are problematic: draft position and Young's contract.

Young's contract is the simple part. He has a player option at the end of the season. So he can just leave and go be a free agent when this campaign ends.

Essentially, Washington might just get Young for a few months and then bid him adieu.

That would be particularly costly if Young hurts the Wizards' chances in a top-tier draft class.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Wizards sit in the fourth-worst spot in the NBA. If anything, they should want to end up in the top three (AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson).

The other nuance to the Wizards' pick is that it's top-eight protected. That means if it ends up ninth or worse in the lottery, it goes to the New York Knicks.

The Wizards are only 3.0 games worse than the eighth and ninth-worst teams. If Young made Washington just a little better, they risk losing their pick entirely, and then losing Young at the end of the season anyway.

And while trading McCollum isn't a major negative, it doesn't really accomplish much. His contract is up at the end of the year, too. It's not like the Wizards are stuck with him.

Young might sell a few more tickets in the second half, but how many more is he really going to bring in for a team that has more than double the losses it does wins? 

This deal seems like it's coming. It just might not be as exciting for the Wizards as it first appears.

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Staff Writer