Trae

Young

No surprise here, as prior reports pointed to Washington taking a cautious approach with its newly-acquired superstar. With CJ McCollum in Atlanta, Young’s absence will mean more minutes for the likes of Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson in the backcourt.

Robbins claims that “the plan is for [Young] to rehab his ankle in-house” and take his time returning to the court. The Wizards then anticipate Young picking up his $49 million player option for 2026, at which time they will see how well he fits alongside young players like Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George. Slow-playing Young this season makes sense, considering the Wizards’ first-round pick is top-eight-protected. That means that, if the Wizards lose enough games to pick inside the top eight in the 2026 NBA Draft, they will keep their pick, but if they pick outside of the top eight, the New York Knicks will control the rights to the Wizards’ pick.

Rumors had been heating up, and now it’s official. Young will head to Washington after appearing in just 10 games during his eighth season with the Hawks. Young will be reunited with Travis Schlenk, who drafted Trae in 2018 and is now an executive with the Wizards. The Wizards will have the rest of this season and, assuming he opts into his contract for next year, all of next season to decide if they want to keep Young around. It was a low-cost move for Washington, and they added a former All-NBA player that led the NBA in assists last season. If they’re able to add another top pick in the draft this season, the Wizards will have one of the best young cores in the NBA and a star point guard to help facilitate things on offense. Plus, Washington has enough length to make up for Young’s defensive limitations. Trae has been sidelined recently with a quad injury, but that could certainly heal up quickly now that he’s on a new team.

Young’s continued absence should mean another start for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and increased playmaking responsibilities for Jalen Johnson.

With trade rumors swirling, Young has missed the last five games with a right quad contusion. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who should already be rostered in most leagues, will start until Young is cleared to return.

Monday’s game will be the fifth that Young has missed, meaning that Nickeil Alexander-Walker will remain in the starting lineup. Also, Young’s absence means that the ball will be in Jalen Johnson’s hands more, raising his already-high fantasy ceiling.

This will be a fourth straight absence for Young, and he was immediately ruled out instead of being listed as questionable initially. It’s unclear how much longer he’ll remain sidelined, but Nickeil Alexander-Walker will remain in the starting lineup for at least one more game.

Once again starting for the injured Trae Young (quad), Alexander-Walker has scored 23 points or more in three of his last four appearances. Rostered in 47 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he’s providing top-75 per-game value in nine-cat formats. Even if Young is available for Saturday’s game in Toronto, Alexander-Walker is worth considering in more 12-team leagues, and some 10-team leagues as well.

This will be a third straight absence for Young, who is now dealing with a quad injury after missing time with a knee injury. Nickeil Alexander-Walker should remain in the starting unit and remain an excellent option for fantasy managers.

Young has missed Atlanta’s last two games, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker filling the resulting void in the starting lineup. NAW, who has standard-league value when Young plays, should be rostered regardless of what happens with Atlanta’s starting point guard.