Trae Young didn’t spend Thursday night in Las Vegas wondering what people thought about his new deal. He spent part of it courtside, watching Wizards prospect AJ Dybantsa make his debut and looking every bit like a player already thinking about what comes next.
By Friday morning, Young was in Washington with the contract done and the message simple: he’s ready to get to work.
“I’m ready to play tomorrow,” Young said Friday morning. “I was just seeing that last night.
I mean, I’m just ready to play. Excited to be a part of this team.”
The Wizards made Young’s four-year, $212.8 million contract extension official at a press conference Friday morning. The number turned heads around the league.
Young made $46.4 million last season, and after Atlanta essentially salary-dumped him to Washington at the deadline with no trade market for him, the expectation was that any extension would come in at a much lower annual figure. Instead, Washington paid him more.
Young didn’t sound interested in revisiting the noise around the deal.
“That ain’t nothing new. I mean, it isn’t the first time all this has gone on…" Young said.
“I don’t really care about what other people think. You know what I’m saying?
I only care about what the people in this organization think, my teammates think, and how we’re gonna get better and how we’re gonna find ways to win the game. So whatever everyone else has to say, I mean, it’s all irrelevant to me.”
General manager Will Dawkins said the fit matters on and off the floor, and he laid out the kind of roster Washington is trying to build: multiple shot creators, multiple decision makers, and a team that doesn’t revolve around one player alone. Dybantsa will get his chances, especially after what he showed with the ball in his hands in Vegas, and Anthony Davis can also be the hub of the offense for stretches. The Wizards, as Dawkins described it, are blending youth and veteran presence.
Young likes that balance.
“You have a mixture of both, that’s this makes great team,” Young said. “I mean, you can’t have a team full of just older players that can’t run.
You can’t have a team with just young players that don’t know the game, been in those experiences. So you have a mixture of both.”
Press conferences don’t always reveal much, but this one made one thing clear: Young is happy to be in Washington, and he’s eager to be part of what the Wizards are building.
“Will (Dawkins, Wizards GM) said it, that’s the reason why you got to have guys like me and AD, because those young guys have shown that they’re ready to make that next step,” Young said. “And I’m just I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
In Other News...
Anthony Davis Just Sent Another Major Signal About His Wizards Transition
Anthony Davis has taken another visible step away from Los Angeles, selling his Bel Air Crest mansion as his path has shifted from the Lakers to the Mavericks and now to the Wizards. The estate was one of the more lavish properties on the market, a sprawling Southern California home loaded with the kind of amenities that fit a star at the peak of his career.
The sale adds another layer to Davis transition, since the move off the West Coast now matches the movement on the court. Even with the property gone, the timing makes the point clear: this is more than a routine real-estate transaction, and for Washington it is another sign that Davis next chapter is settling into place. [Read more 🡒]
Classic Bulls Era Fleer Set Suddenly Has Collectors Watching Again
The 1987-88 Fleer basketball set is back in the spotlight, and it is easy to see why. It brings together one of the eras most recognizable checklists, with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alex English and Manute Bol all tucked into a design that still feels distinctly of its time. For collectors, the appeal is not just nostalgia. Recent high-grade sales and population data have reminded the hobby that this set has become a serious market again, especially when condition pushes a card into elite company.
For Wizards fans, Bols presence gives the set a little extra local flavor, and his card has drawn attention of its own in top grade. The broader question now is how much room remains for the rest of the sets stars to keep climbing, especially with grading reports showing how scarce some of the best copies really are. The answer may depend on whether buyers keep treating this Fleer run as a blue-chip basketball landmark or simply one more relic from a loaded decade. [Read more 🡒]
Trae Youngs Wizards Role Shift Could Change Everything
Trae Youngs first stretch in Washington already hinted at something different, and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins is suggesting that change could carry into the upcoming season. In a small sample with the Wizards, Youngs usage rate sat at 26.3 percent while his assist percentage climbed to 47.5 percent, a sign that his impact can look a little different when the offense is distributed more broadly around him.
For Washington, the key question is how far that adjustment goes. Young is still expected to handle the ball plenty, but the idea is to give him a more diversified offensive role rather than asking him to do everything on every possession. If that balance holds, it could reshape how the Wizards build around him and how difficult they are to defend once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]