Jason Burgos
This week, the Washington Wizards locked Trae Young into a new long-term deal, as many expected. However, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes the team did so at an absolutely ridiculous cost.
After eight straight seasons of awful play, there is reason to believe pro basketball in Washington, D.C., will be a lot better next season. Youngsters Kyshawn George and Alex Sarr developed their games further in 2025-26. The team made bold trades for multi-time All-Stars Young and Anthony Davis before this year’s trade deadline. And with the No. 1 pick in this week’s NBA Draft, they added stud BYU prospect AJ Dybantsa.
Heading into the offseason — besides making a final decision on who would be the No. 1 pick — making sure Young did not opt out of the final year of his deal and leave in free agency was a top priority. Well, there are no longer any worries on that front because the Wizards inked the four-time All-Star to a new deal worth $212.8 million. A cost that the veteran NBA insider thinks was a very bad one for Washington.
“I do not understand why they paid him this much money. You guys know how I view contracts [are they tradable]. I think this is instantaneously one of the worst contracts in the league. I’m sorry I said it that way. I don’t mean to be mean. I don’t think they can trade this contract unless they attach the No. 1 pick [in the draft] to it.”
– Brian Windhorst
Young’s new contract is only for four seasons. The 27-year-old will earn $49.5 next season, $51.9 in 2027-28, $54.4 million in 2028-29, and then has a $56.9 player option in 2029-30.
The fifth overall pick in the 2018 draft is an elite scorer and talented late-game finisher. However, he is an undeniable liability on defense. And there are big questions on if he actually makes the players around him better or not.
