Trae Young confident in what Wizards is building: “I hope to be a piece of this puzzle as I solve it”
Trae Young talked about the pick-and-roll with Alex Sarr and throwing a lob to the standout sophomore center. He discussed handing passes to Bilal Coulibaly.
During the four-time All-Star point guard Washington Wizards’ introductory press conference before Friday’s home game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the 27-year-old Young was visualizing what it will be like to play for his new team when he returns to the court.
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Young is currently out with a right quadriceps contusion and missed 23 games earlier this season due to a sprained anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that reportedly caused him residual pain.
“Coming here to do these medicals, they want to make sure I’m right and stuff like that,” Young said, along with Wizards general manager Will Dawkins.
“I don’t want to come back and not be myself for this team and this city. So I’m going to leave it up to them to let you know when I’m coming back, hopefully soon.”
Meanwhile, excitement will build for Young’s DC debut after the rebuilding Wizards traded for him Wednesday night, sending CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks.
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The Dallas Mavericks selected Young No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 draft before immediately trading him and a first-round pick to the Hawks for the draft rights to Luka Dončić.
Young spent seven-plus seasons in Atlanta. He was eligible for a four-year extension, but the Hawks did not make him a long-term offer last offseason. After leading the NBA in assists per game in 2024-25, Young is now in the fourth year of a five-year, $215 million contract.
He has a $49 million player option next season, meaning he could hit free agency in the summer. But Young wanted to play for the Wizards.
He talked Friday about wanting to finish renovations at Capital One Arena and how he’s noticed an organizational transformation under Dawkins and team president Michael Winger.
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“Just being able to look at some of the pieces they’ve gotten since then from afar [Dawkins and Winger have] I’ve been here and had headaches the last two times playing against them, you see and feel the difference in the way they play.”
Young added of the Wizards franchise: “It’s growing, and I hope to be a piece of this growing puzzle.”
Why the Wizards traded for Young and why the star PG preferred DC as his landing spot
Dawkins and Young have known each other for a long time.
Before becoming GM of the Wizards in 2023, Dawkins spent 15 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, ultimately serving as the team’s vice president of basketball operations from 2020-23.
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Young, who played at Norman North High School before starring at nearby University of Oklahoma, attended his fair share of OKC games when he was growing up.
“I probably saw him come to one of our games when he was 12, 13, and people were like, ‘Hey, he’s a young talent,’” Dawkins said.
“There are a lot of connections in Oklahoma City. It’s a small town. He’s from Norman. My wife is from Norman. Her whole family lives there. He went to OU. My wife’s whole family works at OU, went to OU. So I’ve known him for a long time. When you’re in a town like that, and you have the player of the year nominee in high school and college, it’s very easy to see that.
Dawkins continued, “So you see him at the different gyms, and then you know his family and you know what he’s about and you know the fiber that he comes from. I always stayed in touch with the family, I stayed in touch with him once he became a professional player and watched him through the ranks.”
Dawkins described the trade for Young this season as an “easy decision.”
The Wizards haven’t had an All-Star since Bradley Beal in 2021. Young hasn’t gone two consecutive seasons without earning that recognition in his career.
He has been criticized for his defense and the value of his offense has been questioned in a league where points are no longer at a premium.
Young stressed on Friday that even though he no longer has a baby face, he’s not a finished product. It’s clear that the Wizards see his good side too.
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“When Michael (Winger) and I got here two and a half seasons ago,” Dawkins said, “we wanted to emphasize a few things: the importance of staying flexible while rebuilding, the importance of thinking and thinking in layers and stacking things, and then I would say being opportunistic and doing it by finding players that fit our long-term vision, which is lasting success.
“And I think, looking back at the industry, that reflects all of those principles well.”
Trae Young #3 of the Washington Wizards reacts on the bench with Bilal Coulibaly #0 and Khris Middleton #22 during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Capital One Arena on January 9, 2026 in Washington, DC (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
(Scott Taetsch via Getty Images)
The franchise has won more than 50 games just five times, and not since 1978-79, when it was still called the “Washington Bullets.”
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Despite a group of young talent — including Sarr and Coulibaly, as well as second-year forward Kyshawn George, second-year guard Bub Carrington and rookie guard Tre Johnson — the Wizards are second-to-last in the Eastern Conference standings.
Yet Young was interested in bringing his talents to Washington
“There are a lot of different directions I could have gone in as far as my goals and what I want my legacy to be at the end of the day,” he said.
“Just being able to impact my teammates and the people around me… being able to be a vet and do that with these young guys here, I feel like I have more experience and more things I can give to these young guys.”
Young later said, “DC is overlooked as far as a big market goes. In the NBA, I feel like this is a big market. And I feel like I can have an opportunity to be myself. I’m surrounded by people who obviously have known me for a long time and know the kind of person I am and the kind of winner I want to be.”
Young goes back in time by changing shirts and remembers the days of John Wall
Young will go from wearing No. 11, which he wore at Oklahoma and then with the Hawks, to wearing No. 3 with the Wizards.
It’s not an entirely new number for him, though.
He told reporters Friday that he wore it during his freshman year of high school.
Young is turning back the clock and hoping to help return the Wizards to the success they enjoyed with Beal and, of course, five-time All-Star guard John Wall in the 2010s.
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“I walked into the arena yesterday and I was telling Will (Dawkins) I wish this place was sold out,” Young said. “I remember seeing this place, and we’re about to retire John Wall’s jersey, and seeing him as a kid with bags of luggage.
“I want to get back to that. And it’s not just me. It’s going to be this team and everyone else [as] a part of it. So I’m just super excited to experience this feeling. I’m happy the fans are excited and we’ll give them something to be excited about for the future.”
Those Beal-Wall teams peaked in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Young went to the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2020-21 season, his third in the league.
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Now a veteran, Young wants to help the Wizards’ young core reach that stage, and then make a run at the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“I understand where we are right now and where we want to go. This is a day-by-day process,” he said.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead or set expectations about when that will happen because you never know. It happened faster than I expected in my last place. So you never know when it might happen. But if you focus on the day-to-day things, I mean, things will work out.”