RealGM Basketball Wiretap

08 January 2026

• CJ McCollum Says Wizards Are 'Doing Things The Right Way'

  C.J. McCollum had nothing but good things to say about the Washington Wizards after learning the team was trading him to the Atlanta Hawks. McCollum and teammate Corey Kispert are headed to Atlanta in exchange for Trae Young.

  "Loved my time in DC. Organization was great to my family and I. Michael Winger and Will (Dawkins) did everything they said they would and kept their word from the very beginning," McCollum said. "Love the city and they're doing things the right way over there. Exited to get to The A and get to work. Very familiar with their style of play. Love the ownership group and front office. Good group of players."

  The Wizards are in the middle of what their leadership has termed as a multi-year rebuilding process. Washington has traded for several veteran players over the last few years, but has either re-traded them or worked a buyout to allow those players to join more competitive teams. This is expected to play out with Khris Middleton as well, either at the trade deadline or possible after via a buyout.

• Wizards Will Take Cautious Approach Bringing Trae Young Back From Injury

  The Washington Wizards will re-evaluate Trae Young and will take a cautious approach to his availability, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

  Young recently returned to the court from a sprained MCL, but is now out with a quad injury.

  The Wizards acquired Young on Wednesday for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. The Wizards currently have the fourth worst record in the league at 10-26.

• Wizards Acquire Trae Young From Hawks For CJ McCollum, Corey Kispert

  The Washington Wizards have agreed to acquire Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. No future draft compensation will be exchanged between the Wizards and Hawks as part of the trade.

  Young's agents, Aaron Mintz, Rayford Young, Austin Brown and Drew Morrison alongside general manager Onsi Saleh of the Hawks have been working on a trade to end his tenure with the franchise over the past few days. Young has a $49 million player option for the 2026-27 season and becomes Washington's anchor as they look for their young core to take their next step. The Hawks elected not to offer Young a contract extension in the offseason, which precipitated his eventual trade.

  Young is currently the 10th highest paid point guard in the NBA based on annual average value and is not expected to command a max contract on his next deal.

  Young has played in only 10 games this season and is averaging just 19.3 points and 8.9 assists in 28.0 minutes as Jalen Johnson has become the focal point of the franchise.

  "Trae Young wanted to be a Washington Wizard," said Shams Charania.

  The Hawks create significant financial flexibility with the trade of Young as McCollum is on a $30.7 million expiring contract. Atlanta could pursue a player on a large salary over the coming months with Anthony Davis of the Dallas Mavericks considered a prime in-season trade target.

  Kispert signed a four-year, $54 million contract extension with the Wizards in October 2024 and is signed through the 2028-29 season. Kispert has appeared in 19 games this season, averaging 9.2 points on 39.5 percent three-point shooting in 19.5 minutes.

• Trae Young Has Wizards As Top Choice With Sides Having 'Traction' On Deal

  Trae Young has the Washington Wizards as his preferred destination as he works with the Atlanta Hawks on his exit from the franchise via trade. The Wizards are the only team with known interest in Young at this time.

  "There is traction on a deal," said Shams Charania on NBA Today.

  The Hawks have also conducted trade talks on other multiple fronts.

  Young has a $49 million player option in the offseason that would either make him an expiring contract, or he can opt out and sign elsewhere in free agency while the Hawks would create approximately $40 million in cap space.

  Young has been Atlanta's franchise player since 2018 when they traded down from No. 3 with the Dallas Mavericks to select him instead of Luka Doncic. Young led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022, but the results have been mixed in recent seasons. Young was an All-NBA selection in 2022.

  Young missed several weeks earlier this season with a right MCL sprain and is now out with a right quad contusion.

  Former Hawks executive Travis Schlenk is now in the front office of the Wizards alongside Michael Winger and Will Dawkins. Young could help bring along the Wizards' young core with his ability to generate offense as a playmaker.

• Trae Young Has Interest In Wolves, Nets; Neither Team Pursuing Trade

  Trae Young's camp has proposed the Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets as attractive trade destinations as he and the Atlanta Hawks work on his exit, but neither team are currently interested in a deal.

  The Wolves have a clear need at point guard as Rob Dillingham has been unable to emerge as a successor to Mike Conley Jr. However, the Wolves would need to send out substantial salary that would compromise their rotation in order to acquire a high-salaried guard such as Young. Minnesota is prioritizing a more affordable guard.

  Brooklyn controls their own first round pick this season, but they won't in 2027. The Nets haven't signaled any interest in making an in-season trade that would potentially improve their team immediately. Also, the Nets haven't provided any signals that they have interest in Young specifically.

  The Sacramento Kings have also been speculatively linked with Young in the past, but that no longer is the case under Scott Perry. Zach LaVine's representatives at Klutch Sports reportedly tried to build support for a trade of their client to the Hawks for Young in the offseason, but the Kings weren't interested.

  The Washington Wizards have been the only team confirmed to have interest in acquiring Young.

• Hawks Waiting To See If Any Teams Beyond Wizards Emerge For Trae Young

  While the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards have indeed engaged in serious discussions on a Trae Young trade, an actual agreement may not materialize quickly ahead of the deadline, sources tell Jake Fischer. The Hawks want to see whether another team emerges with interest in acquiring Young closer to the February 5th trade deadline.

  But there have been no other publicly confirmed teams with interest in trading for Young at this point beyond the Wizards.

  Sources also tell Fischer that the Wizards have been monitoring the possibility of acquiring Young ever since he and the Hawks didn't agree to an extension in the offseason. The Wizards currently project to have $80 million in cap space during the 2026 offseason and their ability to reach the salary cap floor is being monitored by rival cap strategists.

  "They have to spend that money somewhere," one rival league executive said.

  The Wizards have a need at point guard and a general lack of excitement amongst their fan base for the current state of the roster that Young could help alleviate.

  Young has a $49 million player option and it remains to be seen whether he would be willing to decline it for a longer term deal at a lower annual average value. Young would likely need a multi-year contract worth more than $100 million to consider it.

  Young's representatives have proposed the possibility of the Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves, but neither team appears interested at this juncture.

• Blazers, Pelicans, Wizards Linked With Jonathan Kuminga

  Jonathan Kuminga is drawing interest from the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Washington Wizards, sources told Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo! Sports.

  Kuminga has previously been linked with several teams, including the Bulls, Kings, Suns, and Mavs.

  Steve Kerr, who removed Kuminga from the rotation, acknowledged that the Warriors could trade the forward last month.

  The Warriors are reportedly not in active trade discussions for Anthony Davis, though are expected to pursue Michael Porter Jr.

  O'Connor adds that the Nets are not interested in adding Kuminga.

• Wizards, Hawks Discuss Trae Young Trade

  The Washington Wizards are a legitimate trade destination for Trae Young as they have held discussions with the Atlanta Hawks on a deal centered around the expiring contract of CJ McCollum, reports Marc Stein.

  "There have definitely been conversations today," said one source.

  The report from Stein came before Shams Charania reported that Young and the Hawks are working together on a trade resolution for him to exit the franchise that selected him in 2018 out of Oklahoma.

  The Wizards have been active on the trade market exploring options to send out the expiring $30.7 million contract of McCollum. The Wizards acquired McCollum from the New Orleans Pelicans in the offseason for Jordan Poole.

  It is not yet clear if the Hawks would have to send draft capital to the Wizards to take on the contract of Young, or if Washington would be acquiring him to keep long-term.

  Young is on a $46 million contract this season and has a $49 million player option fort he 2026-27 season that he is now expected to exercise given the state of his market.

• Wizards, Kings, Pacers Considered Most Likely To Have Best 2026 NBA Draft Lottery Odds

  The 2025-26 season isn't halfway over yet, but the three teams who are widely expected to finish the season with the best lottery odds are the Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers. The New Orleans Pelicans are behind the Kings in the standings, but they don't have the same incentive structure as their first round pick in 2026 was traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Derik Queen.

  The Wizards are in another season of a multi-year rebuild, while the Tyrese Haliburton injury in the Finals has been followed by a number of additional injuries for the Pacers to torpedo their season. The Kings, meanwhile, have signaled they will enter a rebuild with hopes of trading some of their core players.

  The top-3 teams will each have a 14 percent probability of winning the lottery and 52.1 percent of having a top-4 pick.

  "This has been a fascinating five days at the bottom of the standings in the NBA," said Zach Lowe on his podcast on Monday. "If you had to tier the lottery right now, tier one, best chance at a top three, top four lottery seed, Washington, Indiana, Kings, Pelicans are kind of right now in a tier by themselves.

  "Of those three teams, I think Washington, Indiana, and Sacramento have no hope of exiting this tier and no real ambition to do so," continued Lowe. "I think those are the safe bets to finish with the three worst records in the NBA and be very hard to 'catch' for anybody currently above them in the standings.

  "The Pelicans, although they have lost three straight, have been pretty frisky. The numbers when they have their best players on the floor like Herb Jones plus Trey Murphy plus Zion [Williamson], they actually have a positive scoring margin. They're trying to win. They're trying to stave off the embarrassment of potentially sending a super high pick somewhere else. I could see them climbing into the next tier pretty easily if they continue to play with this effort level and stay healthy."

  The next teams above those four in the standings include the LA Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz. The Jazz have a top-8 protected pick that extinguishes if it isn't conveyed in 2026.

• Cam Whitmore Out Indefinitely With Deep Vein Thrombosis

  Cam Whitmore has been diagnosed with upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and has been ruled out indefinitely.

  Whitmore missed the Washington Wizards' two most recent games due to shoulder soreness and further testing revealed his blood clot.

  Whitmore spent the first two seasons of his career with the Houston Rockets and was traded to the Wizards for two second round picks in the offseason due to Houston's roster crunch.

  Whitmore is averaging 9.2 points in 16.9 minutes over 21 games this season with the Wizards.

  Victor Wembanyama, Damian Lillard, Ausar Thompson and Brandon Ingram are among the players who have missed time in recent years due to blood clots.