By David Aldridge, Sam Amick and Josh Robbins

WASHINGTON — The Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards agreed on a trade that will send four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young to Washington, with veteran combo guard CJ McCollum and wing Corey Kispert going to Atlanta, a league source told The Athletic.

Young, 27, and his agents have been working with Hawks officials in recent days to find Young a new home. Washington, in rebuilding mode but with some young players who have shown signs of growth, quickly became a realistic option for Young to try and rehabilitate himself, both physically and reputationally.

Young was once a part of Atlanta’s long-term plans, but mounting evidence suggested the Hawks performed better with Young sidelined. From Oct. 31 to Dec. 14, he missed 22 games because of a knee sprain, and the Hawks posted a 13-9 record without him.

Young returned from his knee sprain on Dec. 18 and played five games (in which Atlanta went 0-5) and last played Dec. 27 before suffering a right quadriceps contusion. The sprain, though, is not fully healed, and Washington will give Young as much time as he needs to get completely healthy. He has a $49 million player option for the 2026-27 season.

In the wake of the Hawks’ decision not to offer Young a contract extension during the summer or this season, league sources say Young and his representatives identified the Wizards as a promising destination months ago. Not only was Washington in need of a point guard for the future, but Young and his reps saw the franchise’s youth movement and roster flexibility as an opportunity to potentially build a roster that complements his skillset.

If, that is, both sides decide this is a long-term partnership.

While rival teams expect Young to pick up his player option, league sources say Young has not made a decision on that front at this point. He is open to the prospect of discussing an extension but is assessing the free agency landscape for this summer, as well.

The presence of Wizards senior vice president of player personnel Travis Schlenk was a factor in Young’s desire to join the Wizards. The former Hawks president of basketball operations famously traded the third pick in the 2018 draft (Luka Dončić) to take Young fifth (while also landing Cam Reddish), and built the team that reached the East finals in 2021. Schlenk was pushed out of his Hawks position in December 2023, and later joined Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins in Washington’s front office in June 2023.

From Young’s vantage point, there is a comfort level and trust with Schlenk that should aid his relationship with the Wizards organization. Considering the uncomfortable nature of Young’s exit in Atlanta, where the former franchise centerpiece found himself being blamed for much of the Hawks’ struggles this season, that component will surely come as a relief.

The trade leaves the Wizards with the remainder of this season and at least a good chunk of the 2026-27 campaign to evaluate how Young fits alongside their young nucleus, which includes big man Alex Sarr, point forward Kyshawn George, wing Bilal Couliably, shooting guard Tre Johnson and combo guard Bub Carrington. They believe Young’s gravity will allow them to see the best offensive versions of their young players.

Young should help unlock at least some of the young Wizards’ potential, thanks to his varied shot diet and court vision. He can create open perimeter shots for Wizards players and provide Sarr with an elite pick-and-roll partner.

Young has averaged at least 10 assists per game in three of his prior seasons, and led the league in assists (11.6 per game) last season, so he is a willing passer. At the same time, however, Young is a ball-dominant guard, and his need to have the ball in his hands has created an assumption within league circles that his Hawks teammates would prefer a more balanced approach to ballhandling responsibilities.

How players such as George, Carrington and Johnson react to playing with Young will be a dynamic for the Wizards’ coaching staff and front office to evaluate as they determine whether Young fits on the roster long term. It is a gamble. Washington’s young core hasn’t yet been around a strong personality such as Young’s.

But the Wizards did not give up any draft capital to acquire Young.

McCollum did not fit neatly into Washington’s long-term plans, although young players and team officials have praised McCollum for his on-court role and his work as a mentor off the court. Because the Wizards were projected before the trade to have approximately $80 million in cap space for the summer of 2026, if Young picks up his $49 million player option for 2026-27, it should not prevent Washington from making free-agent offers to other players during the 2026 offseason.

Before the trade, Washington did not have an obvious long-term solution at point guard, with McCollum and Carrington essentially splitting the duties, George operating as a point forward and Coulibaly at times bringing the ball upcourt. Carrington has made significant strides this season as a 3-point shooter, entering Wednesday shooting 42.0 percent from 3-point range, but some members of the organization view him as better suited to playing off the ball.

Atlanta adds McCollum, a respected player in his 13th NBA season, who is averaging 18.8 points per game and is shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range this season. McCollum helped Washington win five of seven games from Dec. 26 to Jan. 6, including a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in which he sank a go-ahead jumper with 1.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Kispert, 26, is a wing in his fifth NBA season, and he’s a career 38.3 percent 3-point shooter who is highly regarded within the Wizards for his professionalism. But with a large number of younger wings on the roster, Kispert was expendable.

The Wizards held out McCollum and Kispert from their game Wednesday night in Philadelphia, listing McCollum as out because of a sore right quadriceps muscle and Kispert as out to manage a recent hamstring strain.

League sources have speculated to The Athletic that part of Washington’s rationale for the trade could have as much to do with moving McCollum as it does with adding Young.

The Wizards owe a top-eight protected pick in the 2026 draft to the New York Knicks. For years, the Wizards have obsessed over keeping their first-round pick, which is no guarantee. Because of that obligation, and because the 2026 draft appears to be loaded with high-level prospects, the Wizards have an incentive to lose enough to keep the ’26 first, which Washington will do as long as it finishes with one of the four worst records in the league at the end of the season. The lowest a team with the fourth-worst record can finish in the NBA Draft lottery is eighth, which would allow Washington to retain the first, and send second-round picks in 2026 and 2027 to the Knicks to complete its trade obligation.

Sending McCollum to the Hawks also ought to suppress the Wizards’ win total if Young plays a limited number of games over the remainder of this season.

The Toronto Raptors’ approach with Brandon Ingram last season could provide a roadmap for the Wizards to follow with Young in the weeks and months ahead. Ingram suffered an ankle sprain on Dec. 7, 2024, and missed the rest of the season, including games that occurred after the New Orleans Pelicans traded him to the Raptors on Feb. 6, 2025. Toronto ended the season with a 30-52 record, entered the draft lottery and came away with the ninth pick in the draft.

Young has missed the Hawks’ past six games with an ankle injury. The plan is for him to rehab the ankle in-house, a league source said, but with no rush to bring him back. The Wizards’ desire isn’t for Young to help them this season. It’s to contribute starting in 2026, assuming he’s still around, which is the most likely scenario.

If Young were to decline his $49 million player option for the 2026-27 season, entering free agency in the upcoming summer, the Wizards would make a full push to re-sign him, according to a league source. The organization believes in keeping the player under contract, as opposed to losing him for nothing.

The Wizards are excited about adding a pick-and-roll point guard to play alongside the up-and-coming Sarr. Young’s dynamic passing can help open up rookie sharpshooter Johnson. They believe they already employ some of the personnel to make up for Young’s defensive shortcomings. Sarr leads the NBA in blocks per game this season. Coulibaly is physical on the perimeter.

But it’s no guarantee Young hits free agency. He could pick up the option. If he does, it gives the Wizards optionality, too. In that case, the plan as of now would be to talk with Young and his representatives, check if this is still the team he wants to play on, then move forward from there, a league source said. Any sort of move — a trade, an extension or Young playing out the season in Washington — would then be on the table, but it’s too soon to know how that situation would end.

After all, Young just arrived, and the Wizards’ could look vastly different by the start of next season.

Even after trading for Young, the Wizards project to have substantial cap space this summer. Using that space to take in bad contracts along with sweeteners, such as young players or draft picks, remains an option. But no longer encumbered by an outgoing first-round pick, Washington does hope to be more competitive in 2026-27. Because of how much cap room the team has, the Wizards hope to pull off two types of moves in the summer — taking on unwanted money while also adding a veteran or two who can help in the present, a league source said.

Fred Katz contributed reporting.