Trae Young immediately jumped to the forefront of the NBA discussion when he was drafted back in 2018. He was part of a high-profile trade that sent him to the Atlanta Hawks from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic.
The trade was stunningly even for the first few years after Young and Doncic both led their teams to the conference finals within their first four seasons, but the former’s momentum has slowed a ton.
The star point guard failed to win another playoff series after taking his team to the doorstep of the Finals in 2021 and was stuck in the play-in tournament for his final four seasons in Atlanta. With an emerging young core and little to no playoff success, the Hawks realized it was time for a change and shipped Young to the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline earlier this year.
The former No. 5 overall pick was limited to just 15 games in the 2025-26 season, and only five with Washington, so now the organization is at a crossroads. NBA insider Jake Fischer recently announced that Wizards brass is conflicted about whether to extend Young’s contract or trade him to one of the multiple teams checking on his availability.
After Fischer’s report, Marc J. Spears of ESPN said Young “plans to decline” his player option that’s worth $48.97 million in order to become a free agent on Monday. The Wizards are still the “front-runner” for Young, per Spears.
Why the Timberwolves make sense for Trae Young
None of these potential suitors have been confirmed yet except for the Miami Heat, but if there’s any team that needs to be all-in on Young, it’s the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their playoff runs have been derailed by the lack of a secondary ball-handler for two straight seasons, and they need to be doing everything they can to become legitimate contenders with Anthony Edwards.
The young shooting guard has one of the more impressive resumes for his age, with four All-Star selections, two All-NBA selections and an Olympic gold medal all at the age of 24. He’s already had two conference finals appearances, but Minnesota’s lack of star power and absence of a true point guard have significantly capped its ceiling.
Mike Conley can still handle the ball, but he’s nearly 40 years old and can’t be relied on nearly as much as he used to. This is where Young comes in, an elite scorer who also has the ability to lead the league in assists.
The four-time All-Star would allow Edwards to play his natural position of shooting guard full-time, and could be the guy to unlock Rudy Gobert offensively. The Frenchman is notoriously a liability on that side of the ball, but Young has proved to be one of the best alley-oop throwers in NBA history and could make the four-time Defensive Player of the Year a serious threat.
Of course, to acquire a player like Young in a potential sign-and-trade situation, the Timberwolves will have to put together a solid package. Luckily, they have Julius Randle on a large contract and a full complement of young players with untapped potential to trade. They don’t have as many draft picks to offer as they still have picks to send out from when they acquired Gobert in 2022, but Young’s trade value also isn’t great at the moment.
Atlanta couldn’t even get a pick back for the miniature guard, only receiving CJ McCollum and sharpshooter Corey Kispert in return. That should be promising for Minnesota, knowing it doesn’t have to relinquish a ton of assets to welcome a player who could help it ascend to the next level. If Washington does decide to trade Young, the Timberwolves need to be persistent in their pursuit.