Trae Young is heading to Washington on a massive deal. Multiple reports have confirmed that Young intends to sign a four year, $212 million extension with the Wizards, locking in a max level contract just months after being acquired in a trade that surprised the league.
This is the kind of swing that defines a front office. The Wizards have spent years in the wilderness. Now they are paying full freight to one of the best offensive guards of the past five years and pairing him with the top pick in the draft. This is no longer a rebuild. This is a real push to get back into the playoffs.
Young is one of the most polarizing players in the league. The scoring is undeniable. Career averages north of 25 points and 10 assists tell you exactly what kind of impact he creates. He has finished top five in assists multiple seasons. He has been to two All Star games. He has carried Atlanta to memorable playoff runs.
The criticisms are also well known. He is undersized at 6 foot 1. He is a defensive liability who teams will target relentlessly in the playoffs. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective. None of that has changed. What changed is the framework around him.
Pair Young with AJ Dybantsa, Bilal Coulibaly, and Alex Sarr, and the Wizards now have a backcourt of one initiator and an army of athletic wings. Young can play any kind of pick and roll with rim runners. He can find shooters on kickouts. He has a long history of elevating young teammates by simplifying their offensive lives.
The defensive concerns are still there. Putting Young on a team with three rangy wings helps, because Coulibaly and the rookies can take the tougher guard assignments. But in the postseason, defenses will hunt Young in switches. Washington’s coaching staff will need to scheme around that and probably play a lot of zone or have a non Young closing lineup.
The financial commitment is enormous. Four years at $212 million is the kind of contract that comes with real risk. Young will be 31 at the end of the deal. Guards with his physical profile tend to age in mixed ways. By the third year of this deal he will need to be in better shape than he is now to maintain his usage rate.
The early returns from his time in Washington were promising. The team finished better than expected with him in the lineup after the trade and the offense had a coherent identity for the first time in years. Brian Keefe’s staff seems to have figured out how to maximize his strengths.
For Atlanta, the move marked the end of an era. The Hawks built around Trae and Dejounte Murray after the late 2010s rebuild. The pairing never quite delivered the postseason results they wanted. They moved on and got a fresh start. Washington picked up the player Atlanta wanted out of the building. Both sides will tell themselves they won.
What this means for the rest of the league is also interesting. Young being off the trade market closes one of the most talked about names in the rumor mill of recent years. It also clarifies the Wizards as buyers, which changes the league’s trade dynamics heading into the deadline and beyond.
Washington fans should be thrilled. Their team is becoming the kind of place where players want to play. The rebuild has produced real assets. The owner is spending. The roster is interesting. Trae Young being all in on the project gives it credibility, and the Wizards finally look like a franchise on the rise.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
