Trae Young, Come on DOWN

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[tontoz]

I figure whether or not Trae resigns will be contingent on who we draft. If we draft a big, we will have a pretty strong need for a point guard, and Trae Young would make pretty good sense. If we draft a ball handler, then Trae would be an overpriced luxury that we don’t need.

Maybe I need to post this on the draft thread, but what if we pick third and both Dybansta and Boozer are off the board. Do we take the best available in Petterson?

Boozer isn't getting drafted over Peterson. The only guy who might get drafted over Peterson is AJ. Boozer has too many holes in his game to go top 2.

[ledell_gumbo]

I figure whether or not Trae resigns will be contingent on who we draft. If we draft a big, we will have a pretty strong need for a point guard, and Trae Young would make pretty good sense. If we draft a ball handler, then Trae would be an overpriced luxury that we don’t need.

Maybe I need to post this on the draft thread, but what if we pick third and both Dybansta and Boozer are off the board. Do we take the best available in Petterson?

It's very possible Peterson would be their first choice at #1!

[nate33]

I figure whether or not Trae resigns will be contingent on who we draft. If we draft a big, we will have a pretty strong need for a point guard, and Trae Young would make pretty good sense. If we draft a ball handler, then Trae would be an overpriced luxury that we don’t need.

Maybe I need to post this on the draft thread, but what if we pick third and both Dybansta and Boozer are off the board. Do we take the best available in Petterson?

Absolutely! Heck, Id take Peterson at number two ahead of Boozer. I actually like Peterson best of all, but I might take Dybantsa ahead of him because he seems to be more durable.

[nate33]

If we’re gonna bench Trae for the next six months, is there any chance we can lock him in the gym with a bunch of protein powder and get them to add 10 or 15 pounds of muscle?

[closg00]

I figure whether or not Trae resigns will be contingent on who we draft. If we draft a big, we will have a pretty strong need for a point guard, and Trae Young would make pretty good sense. If we draft a ball handler, then Trae would be an overpriced luxury that we don’t need.

Maybe I need to post this on the draft thread, but what if we pick third and both Dybansta and Boozer are off the board. Do we take the best available in Petterson?

Absolutely! Heck, Id take Peterson at number two ahead of Boozer. I actually like Peterson best of all, but I might take Dybantsa ahead of him because he seems to be more durable.

I am a little concerned about Peterson’s health.

[badinage]

https://troyhaliburton.substack.com/p/the-wizards-rebuild-was-never-about?r=yuum&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay&triedRedirect=true

A must read — by a great guy who is a smart, thoughtful, broad-picture fan, not to mention someone who is close to the inner sanctum of this team.

[tontoz]

Frank and Scalabrine on NBA radio are having a field day with Trae saying his preferred destination is DC.

[payitforward]

You know I love this board and have learned a lot from you all, but sometimes this board leans too hard into contrarianism and the "ACTUALLY we know better" mentality. I mean, someone actually said that people in the Wiz FO need to be FIRED for trading Corey Kispert for Trae Young. That might be the funniest thing ever written on realGM.

If Trae Young leads the wizards to a 32 win season and a ninth worst finish in the lottery so that they lose the pick, then management absolutely should be fired.

This trade is hunky-dory so long as they have a plan to ensure the tank this year. But if the tank fails, this will be one of the worst moves in history - totally inexplicable.

For sure -- but it's pretty much impossible to imagine that they'd be rating Trae higher than that pick. E.g. would they actually *trade* one of the top picks in the '26 draft for Trae? Nah...! Nobody would.

[Gig18]

I’m pretty meh on this overall, how I feel will depend so much on
1. Do we let Trae ruin our tank?
2. Do we sign him for an above market extension?
3. Can we trade him next year for anything, when he’s closer to the end of his contract?

Best case scenario : we tank and get a top 3 pick, then use Trae as matching salary with future picks to get a disgruntled superstar and really supercharge the rebuild

Here's the thing that doesn't get spoken much. Trae is a "superstar" who "asked" to come here. When was the last time we had something like that happen? Gilbert? And that was a coin flip per Wizard lore...
Sometimes, a move like this can change the optics for other players. How shocked were we when we heard Ace Bailey wanted to come to the Wizards.
This could give us some cred...

[payitforward]

I figure whether or not Trae resigns will be contingent on who we draft. If we draft a big, we will have a pretty strong need for a point guard, and Trae Young would make pretty good sense. If we draft a ball handler, then Trae would be an overpriced luxury that we don’t need.

Maybe I need to post this on the draft thread, but what if we pick third and both Dybansta and Boozer are off the board. Do we take the best available in Petterson?

The answer is obviously "yes." We are going to be trying to score a true STAR with this pick. Your scenario would be a dream come true!

[tontoz]

I’m pretty meh on this overall, how I feel will depend so much on
1. Do we let Trae ruin our tank?
2. Do we sign him for an above market extension?
3. Can we trade him next year for anything, when he’s closer to the end of his contract?

Best case scenario : we tank and get a top 3 pick, then use Trae as matching salary with future picks to get a disgruntled superstar and really supercharge the rebuild

Here's the thing that doesn't get spoken much. Trae is a "superstar" who "asked" to come here. When was the last time we had something like that happen? Gilbert? And that was a coin flip per Wizard lore...
Sometimes, a move like this can change the optics for other players. How shocked were we when we heard Ace Bailey wanted to come to the Wizards.
This could give us some cred...

First of all Sarr literally forced his way here. Secondly Trae only said we were his preferred destination when he knew the deal was almost done.He initially wanted to go to the Nets or Wolves but they weren't interested. You don't seriously think he was saying that a few weeks ago, do you?

Frank and Scal had jokes about that comment all morning on NBA radio.

[prime1time]

Watching some Hawks tape, the issue with Trae Young isn't just that he's a bad defender but rather that he's a defender that you have to organize your entire defense to protect. So when Trae's not in the lineup, things are simple. But when Trae's out there, everyone has to be alert to know when there are mismatches what's the plan. When Trae's in PnR what's the plan. Watching a team like the Warriors, they hide Steph consistently. But the Hawks seem to be in disarray. Like everyone isn't on the same page. I did see flashes when Trae plays defense but it felt like the team I was watching lacked offensive firepower and Trae had to create everything.

I say all of that to say this. Trae Young could actually workout here. His offense is that dynamic. It comes down to how committed the team is defensively to understanding our scheme, grasping how we will protect Tre and everyone being on the same page. Offensively, I think the question is very simple. Trae needs to play both on ball and off ball. Trae's an electric passer, but things get stagnant with the ball in his hands. With guys like Bub, Kyshawn, Bilal, Tre, Sarr and our future draft pick Trae should be able to play off ball. This is important because it would make the game easier for him. Easier looks. Less effort generating offense. Which hopefully leads to more effort offensively.

Then much like Steph, end of quarters/end of games is Trae Young time.

Young - Johnson - Coulibaly - George - Sarr

This is probably our starting lineup for now. The shooting jumps off at the page. Coulibaly is a potential all nba defender, but it would be lovely if he could improve his shooting. With that being said shooting at every other position makes palatable.

[closg00]

+1 History is being re-written as-if Washington was Trae’s first choice, it was his only landing spot.

[payitforward]

https://troyhaliburton.substack.com/p/the-wizards-rebuild-was-never-about?r=yuum&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay&triedRedirect=true

A must read — by a great guy who is a smart, thoughtful, broad-picture fan, not to mention someone who is close to the inner sanctum of this team.

I enjoyed it, but he waaay exaggerates his points.

Trae Young is NOT the star Haliburton suggests he is. His last really good season was 2021-2. The idea that he has it in him to make us a better team is pure fantasy.

I'm not suggesting he can't have some positive effects. But, he'll also have negative ones. Nor do I think he was acquired b/c of a mistaken idea that he can improve us significantly.

The biggest possible plus from this trade is if Trae plays well enough that he can be moved at next year's deadline for a better return than what we gave up for him (which was, essentially, Corey Kispert).

[tontoz]

There is a chance he doesn't play much here. They could sit him out this season due to 'injuries', then flip him in the summer.

[TGW]

There is a chance he doesn't play much here. They could sit him out this season due to 'injuries', then flip him in the summer.

That would be a dream come true. But in reality, he has no trade value. What the Wizards paid is what he's worth on the market.

[tontoz]

There is a chance he doesn't play much here. They could sit him out this season due to 'injuries', then flip him in the summer.

That would be a dream come true. But in reality, he has no trade value. What the Wizards paid is what he's worth on the market.

He has value as an expiring contract after he picks up his option. We got a first round pick just for taking on the Marcus Smart contract last year. The Cavs got the pick they used on Kyrie just by taking on the Baron Davis contract. Granted a deal like that is more likely to happen closer to the deadline.

[Dark Faze]

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[nate33]

There is a chance he doesn't play much here. They could sit him out this season due to 'injuries', then flip him in the summer.

That would be a dream come true. But in reality, he has no trade value. What the Wizards paid is what he's worth on the market.

He has value as an expiring contract after he picks up his option. We got a first round pick just for taking on the Marcus Smart contract last year. The Cavs got the pick they used on Kyrie just by taking on the Baron Davis contract. Granted a deal like that is more likely to happen closer to the deadline.

I don’t think this scenario will come to pass. The main issue is we are coming to the end of the BOYD phase. At some point soon, we will stop using cap room to buy picks and instead use cap room to add a few useful vets and/or extend the contracts of our existing players.