Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young and Washington Wizards veteran CJ McCollum are both listed as out for their respective matchups on Wednesday night, which could indicate a trade is coming sooner than anticipated. The Wizards are also resting Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton, and Will Riley, although these players were expected to miss the game in question.
McCollum, on the other hand, has not missed a game yet this season. His injury was listed as "right quad soreness," which is a relatively minor injury for McCollum to lose his single-season Ironman status over.
The Hawks say Trae Young will miss his sixth straight game tonight with a quad contusion and the Wizards say CJ McCollum will miss his first game of the season tonight with a sore right quad. https://t.co/L6qqGHTywz
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 7, 2026
Nearly every credible source in Atlanta has relayed a similar notion: the Hawks are not desperate to move Young. Most insiders believed the team would play a potential move with patience, aiming to extract as much value as possible by allowing new suitors to enter the arena and haggling until the deadline is imminent.
Considering Young and McCollum’s status on the injury report, however, Hawks fans could see their franchise player leave in the immediate future.
Only time can tell if this is the right call for Atlanta
GM Onsi Saleh has two questions he must ask himself before executing a trade: Does he still want Young on the roster, and is there any potential trade package that justifies trading Young?
Young clearly has a place on this team, even if his impact has been marginal throughout this season. He is an otherworldly offensive engine who led the league in assists per game, potential assists per 100, and rim assists per 100 (of players who played at least 125 minutes last season). While his scoring efficiency hasn’t developed in the way Hawks fans would have liked, he is still a top-five playmaker in the NBA.
For the team to comfortably move on from Young, they would have to have a second trade lined up. The Wizards will not return equal value for Young, and the Hawks have a massive hole at center. The most likely follow-up move Atlanta could pursue is an Anthony Davis trade. The Hawks are ostensibly the frontrunners for a Davis trade, although the Raptors could make a more compelling offer if they decide to push their chips in on this season.
Concerning the return package for Young, the most the Hawks could expect in a trade is Kyshawn George, a sophomore sharpshooting wing. Barring George’s inclusion, the Wizards have AJ Johnson, Cam Whitmore, Malaki Branham, Justin Champagnie, and Will Riley as intriguing youngsters who would fit in a deal.
Johnson has struggled mightily this season, led by a paltry 18.2% on two point attempts. This level of inefficiency is flat-out unacceptable. Consequently, his minutes per game have dropped from 22.0 to 5.7 – clearly, Johnson isn’t enough to warrant a Young trade. Likewise, Branham has been hanging onto the league by a thread this season after being traded from San Antonio.
Whitmore is a more promising player, but he has yet to convert his obvious talent into on-court production. He is also in the midst of a disappointing season, posting career lows in points, rebounds, assists, three point percentage, and effective field goal percentage in his third season as a pro.
Champagnie, like his twin brother Julian in San Antonio, is a three point specialist. Unlike his brother, however, he’s averaging a meager 33.3% from deep. He would be a nice inclusion to bolster the Hawks’ weak wing corps, but like the three aforementioned Wizards, he isn’t bringing serious value.
It is quite unlikely Washington will use George as trade bait, which leaves Atlanta with no way to extract value in a potential deal with Washington. If a move is coming soon, Hawks fans had better hope a second move is in the works. Otherwise, the team will simply be punting on this season for cap space in a year where they do not control their own draft rights.