Trae Young to the Washington Wizards impacts the Knicks in more ways than one.
The reduction in proximity can’t be overlooked for the longstanding Public Enemy No. 1 at Madison Square Garden, where Young is now within Megabus distance following the deal that sent CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks for the superstar scoring guard.
The Knicks, of course, are more concerned with the reduction in likelihood the Wizards’ first-round pick remains in the top-eight after Washington supercharged its starting five by acquiring a 30-point, 10-assist per game offensive player.
That’s because the Wizards traded a heavily protected, conditional first-round pick to Houston in the deal that sent John Wall to the Rockets for Russell Westbrook. The Rockets traded that pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the rights to starting big man Alperen Sengun, and the Thunder subsequently flipped the Wizards pick to the Knicks as part of the draft-asset package for Ousmane Dieng, the 11th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Which brings us back to those protections, the conditions under which the first-round pick would actually convey to the team that acquired it: The pick was top-14 protected in 2023 (Washington traded up from No. 8 to No. 7 for Bilal Coulibaly), top-12 protected in 2024 (Washington selected Alex Sarr No. 2 overall), and top-10 protected in 2025, where the Wizards selected Tre Johnson fifth overall.
If the first-round pick does not convey for the 2026 NBA Draft, it will instead convey as 2026 and 2027 second-round picks. It’s not the worst haul, considering Mike Brown’s early returns with recent second-round picks Tyler Kolek, Ariel Hukporti and Mohamed Diawara.
But thanks to the new NBA Draft Lottery system, the door isn’t completely shut on the Knicks landing the first-round pick outright.
As of the day after the Trae Young deal, the Wizards (10-26) own the NBA’s fourth-worst record with a zero percent chance of the pick falling outside of the top-eight. But if Washington were to improve to the seventh-best record, where the Utah Jazz (13-24) currently sit, those odds would balloon to 14% to fall outside of the top-eight. And if the Wizards were to go on a storybook run and finish with the NBA’s eighth-worst record, the odds would shift to nearly 40% into New York’s favor.
Which is why Young’s arrival in the nation’s capital holds weight at the mecca of basketball.
Young, sidelined with a quad injury, coincidentally has not played since his Hawks lost to the Knicks in Atlanta on Dec. 27. The Hawks are 1-9 in full games Young has played and 17-12 in games he has missed. He is averaging 19.3 points and 8.9 assists on 41.5% shooting from the field and 30.5% shooting from deep, the worst statistical season since his rookie year on all accounts.
Yet the Wizards are expected to hold their newfound franchise cornerstone out an extended period of time this season. They will call it quad injury management, but in truth, it’s draft lottery position management.
What the Wizards can’t do, however, is shut Young down the entire year if he’s healthy. He is 221-272 all-time in his Hawks career. And while Atlanta has missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, the Hawks have won 40 or more games in four of their last five seasons, while the Wizards are hoping for their third straight season failing to reach 20 wins.
They can kiss that goodbye, along with their first-round pick, if Young raises the ceiling of a talented group of prospects in Washington, a situation the Knicks have their eyes on just in case a pair of seconds eventually conveys
