Trae Young, Come on DOWN

[payitforward]

...hunky-dory...

!!
I'm a lot older than you, & even I haven't run into "hunky-dory" for some decades! Love it!

[nate33]

The national media is in on it too:

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[TheBlackCzar]

The national media is in on it too:

Read on Twitter

?s=46

This makes this an even better trade...
We got rid of our two best vet scorers, who were causing us to win games we didn't need to win....
We get a better PG than we've had since RW....
And he's legitimately injured, so the league may not frown down on us as we're trying to get better, we're just young....

We complete our tank, we add another couple of pieces in the draft, hopefully our #1, and we sign a complementary big, and get ready to run...
Atlanta has never surrounded Trae with this much talent....
Nobody of note is going to ATL as a FA, so saving them money does what exactly?
They drafted Risacher and gifted us Alex...
They are a dumb franchise and we're not moving like that anymore....

We could really jump up next season.... I think if we get lottery luck, we're going to win 41-46 games next year....

[dobrojim]

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

I know little of the details but not every team is in
position to acquire a $50M contract.

[GoneShammGone]

My concern with Trae is how he is going to affect the culture and development of our young guys. CJ was an absolute pro. He worked hard, was always prepared, and despite not being a good defender, he tried on that end. Very humble guy who seemed to get along with the kids and provide a great example to follow. Based on Trae's reputation, he's .... not that.

But who knows? No sense in judging the guy before we have a chance to view him up close, but I'm certainly worried. The fact that he won't play much this year makes me feel a bit better, but I really don't like the idea of Trae being here long term. He is SO ball dominant... it feels like it goes against the "everybody touches the ball" approach the team has been building with the collection of versatile youngsters we have now.

I mean, LOOK at the usage and assist%:

Code: Select all

<PRE>                                                   
Season     Age Team  Lg Pos   G  GS    MP AST% USG%
2018-19     20  ATL NBA  PG  81  81  2503 40.5 28.4
2019-20     21  ATL NBA  PG  60  60  2120 45.6 34.9
2020-21     22  ATL NBA  PG  63  63  2125 45.5 33.0
2021-22     23  ATL NBA  PG  76  76  2652 46.7 34.4
2022-23     24  ATL NBA  PG  73  73  2541 42.5 32.6
2023-24     25  ATL NBA  PG  54  54  1942 45.1 30.5
2024-25     26  ATL NBA  PG  76  76  2739 46.4 29.6
2025-26     27  ATL NBA  PG  10  10   280 45.3 28.8
8 Yr      8 Yr 8 Yr    8 Yr 493 493 16902 44.6 31.8
82 G      82 G 82 G    82 G  82  82  2811 44.6 31.8
</PRE>

Provided by <a href="https://www.sports-reference.com/sharing.html?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool">Basketball-Reference.com</a>: <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/y/youngtr01.html?sr&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool#advanced">View Original Table</a><br>Generated 1/8/2026.

That's like prime John Wall stuff. Is that really the best player to pair with shot-creators like Kyshawn and Tre? Maybe, hopefully, they play him fewer minutes, but I don't know.

[dobrojim]

Read on Twitter

?s=46

I guess you have to read the tweet to see his
reasoning.

[Northwest Roddy]

My problem is the way play-off basketball is officiated now Trae Young becomes unplayable, unless he’s a sixth man microwave scorer off the bench. But he’s way overpaid for that role. What is a fair salary for Trae Young?

[Northwest Roddy]

...hunky-dory...

!!
I'm a lot older than you, & even I haven't run into "hunky-dory" for some decades! Love it!

Hunky-dory is World War II slang. When GIs went out in Yokohama, no matter how drunk you were, if you could find han kyu dori, which was the round road around Yokohama and followed it. Eventually it would bring you back to the base. Hence if you found hankyu dori, everything was hunky-dory.

[Frichuela]

These fellas are ouzing optimism…

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[Despy]

We're supposed to not suck next year so putting all your hopes on a rookie pg we might not even be able to draft is risky. Plus none of our young core are especially ball dominate.

[Frichuela]

Trae could be a great table setter for our young guns…

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[Jimmy Recard]

CJ and to a lesser extent Krispy were hurting the tank, so it’s a fine trade assuming the plan is to sit Trae most of the rest of this season and continue to bottom out to try and land Peterson/AJ/Boozer, or at least a pick between 4-8.

But if Trae plays a bunch the rest of the way and we play well enough to lose our pick this year, then it makes absolutely no sense.

[tontoz]

Trae could be a great table setter for our young guns…

[s=46

Let's be real you just like the deal because Kispert is gone.

Secondly he's led the league in turnovers 3 of the last 4 seasons.

Thirdly what does Trae do when he doesn't have the ball? Absolutely nothing. He doesn't move at all without the ball.

Last but not least since 2018 he is probably the worst defender in the league that plays big minutes.

[dckingsfan]

CJ and to a lesser extent Krispy were hurting the tank, so it’s a fine trade assuming the plan is to sit Trae most of the rest of this season and continue to bottom out to try and land Peterson/AJ/Boozer, or at least a pick between 4-8.

But if Trae plays a bunch the rest of the way and we play well enough to lose our pick this year, then it makes absolutely no sense.

Our defense is bad, like 29th. Trae is one of the worst defenders in the NBA right now. If he doesn't play he helps the tank and if he does play he helps the tank.

To me, this was a calculated (with a tinge of desperation) move to not lose the pick.

I would rather have had the cap flexibility in the off-season but... it is what it is. Thus far, not really high on this FOs trades (overall and in comparison to other teams in the east).

[nate33]

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).

My main problem with Trae Young the player is that I think he is a floor raiser but not a ceiling raiser. He'll win us regular season games, but he won't win against the playoffs when you run into teams with the personnel and game plan to negate him offensively and attack him defensively. I just don't think you can build a team around Trae Young.

Having said that, I believe that management doesn't want to build around Trae either. I think they see Trae as an intermediate step. The idea is to have a true PG so that we don't have to force our guys to play outside of their comfort zone all the time. Kyshawn shouldn't be a primary pick-and-roll operator. He should be a secondary pick-and-roll guy operating against a defense that has already had to shift from side-to-side. Tre Johnson shouldn't have to be a playmaker and dish out 5 assists per game. He should be coming off of screens and attacking closeouts. Sarr should not be a 25% usage guy with a TS% of .567. He should be a 20% USG guy with a TS% of .620. Trae Young can facilitate this by taking over PG duties and setting other guys up. It will help our offense, at the cost of our defense.

What I would like to see happen is for us to draft Peterson or Flemings this summer and ultimately shift the PG role into their hands. But Peterson in particular is probably not ready for that as a rookie. So he can start off in a secondary role alongside Trae and learn to be a primary operator over time. I would probably refrain from extending Trae in this scenario. Then, in Summer 2027, we cut Trae loose and hopefully have a team that is nearly as good offensively while being MUCH better defensively.

And if Peterson is gone and someone like Dybantsa, Boozer or Wilson is best player available, we draft them, extend Trae and roll with Trae Young at PG for a longer period of time. We would still look to find someone to replace him Young eventually (or maybe Carrington gets there), but in the meantime, we would at least be a .500-ish team and learn to play meaningful games. And you never know, maybe Kyshawn or Tre Johnson continue to improve enough to take over as primary option. That's what Jalen Johnson did, as did Devin Booker.

[nate33]

These fellas are ouzing optimism…

Read on Twitter

?s=46

McCants is an idiot. You don't tank hard for 35 games a put your self in the bottom 4 only to try and "turn that motherf*cka around" in a manner that gets you to 32 wins, no playoff appearance, and lose your draft pick.

You show a little bit of g** d*** patience and wait another 30-40 games before shifting gears.

[Jimmy Recard]

CJ and to a lesser extent Krispy were hurting the tank, so it’s a fine trade assuming the plan is to sit Trae most of the rest of this season and continue to bottom out to try and land Peterson/AJ/Boozer, or at least a pick between 4-8.

But if Trae plays a bunch the rest of the way and we play well enough to lose our pick this year, then it makes absolutely no sense.

Our defense is bad, like 29th. Trae is one of the worst defenders in the NBA right now. If he doesn't play he helps the tank and if he does play he helps the tank.

To me, this was a calculated (with a tinge of desperation) move to not lose the pick.

I would rather have had the cap flexibility in the off-season but... it is what it is. Thus far, not really high on this FOs trades (overall and in comparison to other teams in the east).

You’re not wrong about the defense, but I think people are underrating how impactful his offense can be. Granted his efficiency has dropped off the last few years, but he’s still a great playmaker and guys like Trae can significantly raise the floor of bad teams and help you win regular season games against bad or mediocre teams because he’s capable of taking over games with his offense.

Logan Murdock made a good point on the Ringer podcast yesterday saying that if we’re not gonna sit Trae this season, then we’re basically betting on him being bad enough to not lose our pick, in which case, why did we trade for him in the first place?

I like what Dawkins has done so far (except the Deni trade). I think he understands how important it is for this teams future that we don’t lose this years pick. But we’ll see.

Sarr/George/Bilal/Tre/Riley/Bub/2026 first + Trae on an expiring next year is exciting to think about.

[payitforward]

Don't think McCants remembered that we lose the pick if it's not 8 or above.

[spaceman_E]

Pretty nifty return to swap Beal for Trae Young. Kyshawn. AJJ. Whitmore. 2 or more first rounders. A bunch of 2nds. And potential pick swaps.

like saying the Andrew Nicholson signing led to us getting Alex Sarr in the draft. The Beal trade netted us the 2nd worst contract in the league, a potential pick swap in 2030 and some 2nd round picks.

[dckingsfan]

CJ and to a lesser extent Krispy were hurting the tank, so it’s a fine trade assuming the plan is to sit Trae most of the rest of this season and continue to bottom out to try and land Peterson/AJ/Boozer, or at least a pick between 4-8.

But if Trae plays a bunch the rest of the way and we play well enough to lose our pick this year, then it makes absolutely no sense.

Our defense is bad, like 29th. Trae is one of the worst defenders in the NBA right now. If he doesn't play he helps the tank and if he does play he helps the tank.

To me, this was a calculated (with a tinge of desperation) move to not lose the pick.

I would rather have had the cap flexibility in the off-season but... it is what it is. Thus far, not really high on this FOs trades (overall and in comparison to other teams in the east).

You’re not wrong about the defense, but I think people are underrating how impactful his offense can be. Granted his efficiency has dropped off the last few years, but he’s still a great playmaker and guys like Trae can significantly raise the floor of bad teams and help you win regular season games against bad or mediocre teams because he’s capable of taking over games with his offense.

Logan Murdock made a good point on the Ringer podcast yesterday saying that if we’re not gonna sit Trae this season, then we’re basically betting on him being bad enough to not lose our pick, in which case, why did we trade for him in the first place?

I like what Dawkins has done so far (except the Deni trade). I think he understands how important it is for this teams future that we don’t lose this years pick. But we’ll see.

Sarr/George/Bilal/Tre/Riley/Bub/2026 first + Trae on an expiring next year is exciting to think about.

Good points all. And I guess if you are just focused on more regular season wins... all good.

I also like most of the FOs moves (like you Deni not so much). Also the signings of Kispert and Kuzma which gives me a pretty bad feeling about them potentially extending Trae.

But if the youngsters breakout, it will become moot. The Sarr, Tre and George picks were really good (opinion).