Trae Young

Trae Young is a point guard who scores and passes in high volume. Atlanta acquired him on the night of the 2018 draft in exchange for the rights to Luka Dončić, and he went on to become a four-time NBA All-Star. He led the Hawks to the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals and left Atlanta as the franchise’s career leader in assists and made threes. In January 2026 he was traded to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, which reunited him with Travis Schlenk, the executive who had brought him to Atlanta. Washington then made him the centerpiece of its rebuild.

Vitals
Born	Sept. 19, 1998, Lubbock, Texas
Position	Point guard (6-2)
Teams	Atlanta Hawks (2018–2026), Washington Wizards (2026– )
Draft	2018, first round, No. 5 overall by Dallas; traded to Atlanta on draft night
Contract status (Nov. 8, 2026)	Four-year deal worth about $212 million with Washington, agreed June 22, 2026; fourth year is a player option
Number	11 (Atlanta), 3 (Washington)

Oklahoma

The freshman season. Young grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, and played high school basketball at Norman North before spending one season at the University of Oklahoma in 2017-18. In 32 games he averaged 27.4 points and 8.7 assists, and he led NCAA Division I in both categories. He also led the Big 12 with 876 total points and 118 made threes.

The honors. He was a consensus first-team All-American and won the USBWA National Freshman of the Year award. He was also Big 12 Freshman of the Year and an All-Big 12 selection, per Sports-Reference. He entered the 2018 NBA Draft after that one season.

Atlanta Hawks (2018–2026)

The draft-night swap. On draft night in 2018, Dallas took Young fifth overall and then sent him to Atlanta, along with a protected future first-round pick, for the rights to No. 3 pick Luka Dončić, per Wikipedia’s account of the deal. The Hawks’ general manager at the time was Travis Schlenk. Schlenk had been hired in 2017 and was promoted to president of basketball operations in 2019.

The rise. Young averaged 19.1 points and 8.1 assists across 81 games as a rookie in 2018-19. He made the All-Rookie Team and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. In 2019-20 he raised his scoring to 29.6 points per game and earned his first All-Star selection. In 2021-22 he averaged 28.4 points and made the All-NBA Third Team.

The playmaker. As Atlanta’s offense was built more fully around him, his assist totals kept rising. In 2024-25 he averaged 11.6 assists and led the league. He made his fourth All-Star team that season, after earlier selections in 2020, 2022 and 2024. In August 2021, Atlanta signed him to a five-year maximum extension, which Wikipedia reports as $172 million guaranteed and up to $207 million in total.

The 2021 run

The bracket. In the 2021 playoffs, Atlanta beat the New York Knicks in the first round. It then beat the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the conference semifinals and reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in Young’s career, per Wikipedia.

The conference finals. In the series against Milwaukee, Young scored 48 points in Atlanta’s 116-113 Game 1 win on June 23, 2021. He missed two games of the series and finished with 112 points in four appearances, an average of 28.0 per game. The Bucks won the series 4-2 and eliminated Atlanta with a 118-107 win in Game 6 on July 3. Hoops Rumors later named the run as the payoff of Schlenk’s rebuild in Atlanta, which had included three losing seasons before the 2020-21 conference finals.

The 2026 trade to Washington

The injuries before the deal. Young sprained his right MCL in late October 2025 and did not return until mid-December, ESPN reported. In his 10 games for Atlanta in 2025-26, he averaged 19.3 points and 8.9 assists. At the time of the trade he had missed six straight games with a right quad contusion.

The terms. ESPN reported on Jan. 7, 2026, that Atlanta had agreed to send Young to Washington for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. The NBA dated the acquisition Jan. 9, 2026. Coverage of the deal reported that the trade went through without any draft picks. ESPN reported that Young had about $95 million left on his contract through 2026-27, and that the trade would take Washington about $30 million below the luxury tax.

The reunion. ESPN reported that the trade reunited Young with Schlenk, “the now-Wizards executive who brought him to Atlanta in a draft-night deal in 2018.” Washington had hired Schlenk in June 2023 as senior vice president of player personnel, working under president Michael Winger. ESPN also reported that Washington was Young’s preferred destination.

Washington Wizards rebuild

A short first season. In Washington, Young switched to No. 3 because the franchise has retired No. 11 for Elvin Hayes, per Wikipedia. He played five games for Washington in 2025-26 and averaged 15.2 points and 6.2 assists. He re-injured his right quadriceps against Golden State on March 16, 2026, and also had lower back irritation. On March 21 the team ruled him out indefinitely and said both injuries were “being treated conservatively” and would not require surgery at that point. Wikipedia reports that he was ruled out for the rest of the season in April.

The new contract. On June 17, 2026, ESPN reported that Young planned to decline his $48.97 million player option for 2026-27. The same report said Washington saw Young and Anthony Davis as a potential All-Star pairing to lead its young core. On June 22, 2026, he agreed to return to Washington on a four-year deal worth about $212 million, with a player option in the fourth year. NBA.com reported that the deal was confirmed on July 6.

The 2026-27 season. In his first 10 games of the 2026-27 season, Young averaged 18.4 points and 8.9 assists while shooting .398 from the field.

By the numbers

Season	Team	GP	PTS	AST	TRB	FG%	3P%
2018-19	ATL	81	19.1	8.1	3.7	.418	.324
2019-20	ATL	60	29.6	9.3	4.3	.437	.361
2020-21	ATL	63	25.3	9.4	3.9	.438	.343
2021-22	ATL	76	28.4	9.7	3.7	.460	.382
2022-23	ATL	73	26.2	10.2	3.0	.429	.335
2023-24	ATL	54	25.7	10.8	2.8	.430	.373
2024-25	ATL	76	24.2	11.6	3.1	.411	.340
2025-26	ATL/WAS	15	17.9	8.0	2.0	.458	.338
2026-27	WAS	10	18.4	8.9	3.4	.398	.286

Regular-season per-game averages, per Basketball-Reference.

Career totals

Per Basketball-Reference, regular season, through Nov. 8, 2026.

Ranks

• 1st Assists, Hawks franchise history (4,837)
• 1st Made threes, Hawks franchise history (1,295)
• 1st Assists per game, Hawks franchise history (9.8)
• 3rd Points per game, Hawks franchise history (25.2)
• 6th Points, Hawks franchise history (12,413)

Per Basketball-Reference Hawks career leaders, Atlanta games only, through Nov. 8, 2026.

Honors

• 4× NBA All-Star (2020, 2022, 2024, 2025)
• All-NBA Third Team (2022)
• NBA assists leader (2024-25)
• NBA All-Rookie Team (2019)
• Rookie of the Year runner-up (2019)
• Consensus first-team All-American (2018)
• USBWA National Freshman of the Year (2018)
• Big 12 Freshman of the Year (2018)

Per Basketball-Reference and Sports-Reference, through Nov. 8, 2026.

The arguments

Young or Dončić. Because of the 2018 draft-night swap, Young’s career is compared with Dončić’s more than with any other player’s. Those who defend Atlanta’s side point to what Young produced there: the 2021 conference finals and the franchise records in assists and made threes. Critics of the deal point to the gap in individual honors between the two players and note that Atlanta’s best playoff run came in Young’s third season.

The price Washington paid. Some coverage of the January 2026 trade questioned why the Hawks gave up a four-time All-Star without receiving any draft picks. ESPN’s reporting framed the deal mainly in financial terms for both teams: Washington got below the luxury tax and created summer cap room, and Atlanta received McCollum’s expiring contract and Kispert’s longer one.

The max contract and durability. Young declined his option in June 2026 to seek a new deal, and some reaction treated the move as an overreach for a guard who had played 15 games that season. Washington’s own case for the four-year deal rested on the pairing with Davis: ESPN reported on June 17, 2026, that the Wizards believed Young and Davis could be an All-Star duo capable of lifting the franchise into playoff contention in 2026-27.

Why it matters

Few players have tied two franchises to a single draft-night decision as directly as Young. Atlanta’s choice of him over Dončić produced a conference finalist, a league assists title and a set of franchise records. In 2026, the same executive who made that choice brought him to Washington as the main piece of a rebuild. How that second chapter is judged depends on the Wizards’ results after the 2026 contract and on whether Young stays healthy. Either way, his place in Hawks history and his link to the 2018 draft are fixed.