Trae Young Open To Hawks Return If Wizards Tenure Ends: ‘That’s Why I Wanted To Leave The Right Way’

Trae Young recently signed a four-year, $212 million deal with the Washington Wizards this summer after a massive trade sent CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks in January. Less than a few months after that extension, Young says he remains open to returning to his former team one day if he gets the chance.

The Wizards’ star recently sat down with Byron Turner on the Baller Alert show, where he was asked whether he was open to a potential future reunion with the Hawks.

“Man, you never know. Like, that’s why the NBA is just such a— And for me, I plan on playing for a long time. So, like, that’s why I wanted to leave the right way, you know what I’m saying? And for me, I don’t want to have any bad blood with anybody in the city or any of the fans.”

“But it’s all good, though. That’s why I wanted to leave, you know what I’m saying, on the right terms. And sometimes breakups are meant to happen, but just how they go down is what’s most important,” Trae Young said.

“So, for me right now, obviously, my ten toes are here in D.C., and that’s why I appreciate you coming down, because, I mean, we could have done this back in Atlanta, but I wanted you to feel where my new home is.”

“I mean, I love my town. I always feel like Atlanta’s I mean, another home for me. So, I mean, at the same time, like, you never know. You never know. You know what I’m saying? But right now, I’m where I’m at,” Trae Young concluded.

The Hawks are the team that traded Luka Doncic on draft night to land Trae Young on the night of the 2016 NBA Draft. Since then, he spent almost eight years with the franchise, and in 493 regular season games, the four-time All-Star averaged 25.2 points, 9.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 43.2% from the field and 35.1% from behind the three-point line before he was traded.

Given that he owes much of his career to the Hawks, it is not surprising he still has a soft spot for the team. But since they pivoted to Jalen Johnson and traded Young in arguably his prime, it was widely considered to have left a sour taste in his mouth.

It seems Trae Young has forgiven his former team and is now focused on excelling with Anthony Davis and AJ Dybantsa as part of the Wizards’ big three. He also justified wanting out of the Hawks by saying he accepted he couldn’t do it alone without a superstar name in Atlanta.

This also suggests that he wouldn’t return in his prime but rather when he decides to close out his career and hang up his sneakers, maybe a decade later.

Do you think he could rejoin the Hawks near the end of his career once his time in Washington ends? Let us know what you think in the comment section.