{"id":403665,"date":"2026-01-10T07:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T07:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403665\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T07:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T07:03:09","slug":"trae-young-speaks-after-being-traded-from-atlanta-hawks-to-washington-wizards-social-media-post-press-conference-when-will-trae-young-play-for-wizards-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403665\/","title":{"rendered":"Trae Young speaks after being traded from Atlanta Hawks to Washington Wizards, social media post, press conference, when will Trae Young play for Wizards, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Four-time NBA All-Star guard Trae Young has penned a farewell message to the Atlanta Hawks after eight seasons and says he\u2019s \u201cecstatic\u201d over being traded to the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n<p>Young, who was unveiled by the Wizards in an introductory press conference on Saturday (all times AEDT), spoke publicly for the first time via a social media post earlier in the day.<\/p>\n<p>Watch NBA with ESPN on Kayo Sports | Stream an average 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs.| <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkbasketball-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-basketball-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767942068_240_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m walking into this next chapter ecstatic, with my head high and my eyes forward,\u201d Young wrote. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time to see what\u2019s possible when the support is real and the vision is clear. We move.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Young averaged 25.3 points, 9.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals a game in his prior seven seasons with the Hawks but has missed most of this season with a right knee sprain and right quadriceps contusion.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawks missed the playoffs four times since Young was taken fifth overall in the 2018 NBA Draft and fell in the first round two other seasons. <\/p>\n<p>Atlanta\u2019s best run with Young came in 2020-21 when the Hawks lost to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe last few years weren\u2019t how I wanted them to be,\u201d Young wrote. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBringing a championship to Atlanta was always my goal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, between the injuries, the setbacks and situations that didn\u2019t make sense, we never truly got to see our full potential.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Young wrote: \u201cThe city that raised me and taught me so much will always be a chapter in this story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, the pain of staying the same eventually outweighed the uncertainty of change. Change is often met with fear but I see it as another opportunity.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>So when will Young make his Wizards debut?<\/p>\n<p>Young said during Saturday\u2019s press conference he\u2019ll return \u201chopefully soon\u201d but is leaving it up to Washington, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MarcJSpears\/status\/2009768002980340038\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">according to NBA writer Marc Spears<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s unavailable for the team\u2019s home meeting with New Orleans on Saturday due to a right quad contusion and right knee MCL sprain but in attendance on the Wizards bench.<\/p>\n<p>It comes after ESPN\u2019s Bran Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective Podcast he doesn\u2019t expect Young to play much for the Wizards for the remainder of this season, as they want to protect their 2026 first-round pick, which conveys to Phoenix if it falls outside the top eight.<\/p>\n<p>The Athletic\u2019s Josh Robbins, who covers the Wizards, also suggested Young would be used sparingly, if at all, by his new team.<\/p>\n<p>Young, 27, departs the Hawks, 18-21 and ninth in the Eastern Conference, after 493 games all as a starter for a Wizards\u2019 squad that ranks 10-26, next-to-last in the East.<\/p>\n<p>The Wizards confirmed details on Friday of the swap, which sends swingman Corey Kispert and guard CJ McCollum to Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a rare opportunity to acquire a player of Trae\u2019s skill, accomplishments and age,\u201d Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrae plays an exciting brand of basketball and brings a level of confidence and competitiveness that has set him apart in this league.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Young averaged more than 25 points and 10 assists in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, a back-to-back NBA feat also managed only by Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson.<\/p>\n<p>In the 2021-22 season, Young led the NBA in points and assists, joining Nate Archibald in 1972-73 as the only players to achieve such a double.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four-time NBA All-Star guard Trae Young has penned a farewell message to the Atlanta Hawks after eight seasons&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2095,5888,4131,7218,64,63,214311,214307,214313,214306,197661,214308,214303,214312,214309,13339,199320,5130,214314,3879,20590,2041,2067,200015,29169,668,211480,214310,214304,214305,10113,1314,85,42307,2614,3601,7211,214315,12216],"class_list":["post-403665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bran-windhorst","tag-cryptic-messages","tag-debut-mystery","tag-farewell-message","tag-franchise-superstar","tag-home-meeting","tag-introductory-press-conference","tag-john-mcdonnell","tag-josh-robbins","tag-louisiana","tag-marc-spears","tag-milwaukee","tag-nate-archibald","tag-new-orleans","tag-news-conference","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oscar-robertson","tag-phoenix","tag-press-conference","tag-right-knee","tag-right-knee-sprain","tag-right-quad-contusion","tag-right-quadriceps-contusion","tag-russell-westbrook","tag-social-media","tag-sports","tag-state-of-georgia","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-washington","tag-washington-wizards","tag-will-dawkins","tag-wisconsin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}