It took a while, but the NBA trade season is officially here now that the Trae Young deal came together rather quickly. As usual, this post will be constantly updated to serve as a one-stop shop for every trade that happens up until the deadline.
Like last year's edition, the confirmed salaries come from Keith Smith's work at Spotrac, previously traded draft pick details come from RealGM, and I always make sure to list which reporter was first on the news. The latest deals will be added at the top of the post so that you don't have to keep scrolling to the bottom for updates, and salaries are color-coded based on whether they're player options, team options, or non-guaranteed.
Trae salary dumped to Washington (Stein/Shams 1/7)
Wizards receive:
Hawks receive:
Marc Stein was all over this being the landing spot these last few days and even had the likely package before Shams Charania reported the deal was done. It's an underwhelming return for Atlanta's former face of the franchise but a fair move on both sides, even if each thought that they deserved to receive draft compensation.
Despite some gaudy stats as a dangerous offensive engine, Young just didn't seem to have a ton of value around the league due to his heavily ball dominant style of play, being arguably the worst defensive player in the league, and his contract situation. Add in the fact that multiple injuries have limited him to just 10 games this season, with the Hawks just 2-8 in them, and this is the resulting trade package.
With today's win, they are now 16-11 without him, and offseason addition Nickeil Alexander-Walker's career-year (20.5 points and 3.3 assists in 32.9 minutes) helps fill the gaps. Jalen Johnson has fully entrenched himself as the new franchise cornerstone, and the combined playmaking (on both ends) of him, Alexander-Walker, and Dyson Daniels makes Atlanta a more versatile team. The addition of McCollum can help provide more offense as a pure guard, at least in the short-term and likely off the bench, and Kispert adds more depth on the wing as a very capable shooter on a solid contract.
