On Wednesday, the first major trade of the 2025-26 NBA season went down when the Atlanta Hawks agreed to trade four-time All-Star guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for sharpshooters CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.
This trade may not have any real impact on how the Eastern Conference playoff picture shakes out — the Hawks are in ninth place with an 18-21 record, while the Wizards have a 10-26 mark — but it could be the thing that soon triggers other trades across the league.
Young was the No. 5 pick in the 2018 draft by the Dallas Mavericks. On draft day, the Mavs sent him to the Hawks for Luka Doncic, who was the No. 3 pick that year, and a 2019 first-round pick that turned into Cam Reddish. Doncic was asked about his thoughts on Wednesday’s deal.
“Obviously, we came together. We got traded for each other… We have a good relationship. I have a lot of respect for him. So if he’s excited for this new journey, I’m excited for him.”
In recent days, Young’s agents reportedly worked with Atlanta’s front office to work out a trade for him. Although he has career averages of 25.2 points and 9.8 assists a game, Atlanta has made the playoffs just three times in seven full seasons with him and has reached the Eastern Conference finals only once during that time.
It can now look to reset, especially since they have a number of promising young complementary players, while the Wizards get a player who is considered a bona fide star.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Luka Doncic on Trae Young getting traded to Wizards
