If Hawks move Trae Young, Wizards would check the most boxes

It’s starting to feel less like if and more like when for Trae Young.

The clock is ticking toward February 5, and the Hawks don’t have the luxury of waiting forever. Something is coming. The only real question is where it lands.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks laid out the framework, and it reads like a checklist more than a rumor. Clear priorities. Clean math. Minimal sentiment.

First, Atlanta wants out of future money. Moving Young’s $49 million salary for 2026-27 would open real cap flexibility, the kind teams don’t stumble into by accident.

Second, the Hawks need a playable point guard back. Starter or rotation piece. Someone who can function while the roster resets. Third, draft capital matters. June. Or later. Either works.

That’s where the Wizards enter.

A deal headlined by CJ McCollum, Malaki Branham, AJ Johnson, and likely Oklahoma City’s 2026 first-round pick checks all three boxes. Money cleared. Guard depth added. Picks acquired.

McCollum, in particular, gives coach Quin Snyder options. He’s started nearly 90 percent of his career games. He can run units. He can stabilize nights that might otherwise drift.

There’s still one unresolved piece. Does Atlanta have to sweeten the deal? Is a first-round pick of its own required to convince Washington to absorb Young’s salary next season?

Maybe. Even if that answer turns out to be yes, this package still grades out better than the alternatives currently on the board.

From the Wizards’ perspective, the logic is simple. Cap space is a tool. They’re using it. Turning flexibility into an established star now, rather than waiting for someday.

Washington still wants to keep its own first-rounder this year (it conveys to the Knicks if it falls outside the top eight), but there’s also an eye on relevance. A push toward the play-in. A reason to matter again.

That’s the intersection both teams seem to be approaching. And as the deadline gets closer, it’s becoming harder to imagine Young not being right in the middle of it.