Trae Young breaks silence on Hawks trade
The Atlanta Hawks moved from the position of franchise quarterback Trae Young after being traded to the Washington Wizards just a few days ago. Young was seen on the bench when the trade was announced, and he addressed the team after their game, but the fans weren’t able to hear what he had to say until now.
Now-Wizards guard finally broke his silence on social media about the trade, starting with “I never thought I’d be typing this.”
“The last few years have not been what I wanted them to be,” Young wrote. “The expectations that were created for us, reaching heights that Atlanta had never reached before. Bringing a championship to Atlanta was always my goal. However, between injuries, setbacks and situations that didn’t make sense, we never got to see our full potential.
“However, the pain of staying the same ultimately outweighed the uncertainty of change. Change is often met with fear, but I see it as another opportunity. I enter this next chapter with my head held high and my eyes forward. It’s time to see what’s possible when the support is real and the vision clear. We’re moving.”
Young brought the Hawks two games away from the 2021 NBA Finals, but ultimately lost to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. From there, the Hawks made the playoffs two years in a row, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
There have been several different iterations of the team that the front office has tried to put together, but they haven’t been able to return to the success they had in 2021, which is why Young mentioned that they never saw their potential.
Young will now try to find success with the Wizards, another franchise in the league with young talent but without a winning record since 2018. With Young, cap space and a potential top pick, there’s a chance they can turn things around.
2026-01-09 14:33:00
