To the surprise of many, the recent trade that sent Trae Young to the Wizards ironically turned the vast majority of New York Knicks fans into major advocates of the villainous point guard.
Considering the Knickerbockers hold the protected rights to Washington's first-round pick in 2026, the franchise selfishly was hoping that his arrival in D.C. would be enough to lift the cellar-dwelling club up from the fourth-worst record in the association to somewhere a bit more likely that they'd fall outside of the top eight.
After all, though New Yorkers may be unwilling to admit it, Young is a highly talented, established All-NBA player who has spearheaded several playoff runs during his tenure with the Hawks.
Unfortunately, this hoped-for hypothetical may be more of a pipe dream than an actual possibility, as the New York Post's Stefan Bondy recently revealed that Washington still has their sights set on holding onto their protected draft rights.
Wizards taking it slow with Trae Young to keep pick away from Knicks
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), the Knicks beat reporter noted that the Wizards "plan to allow Trae Young ample time" to recover from his lingering quad injury, not only as a way to protect their new franchise cornerstone from enduring any long-term setbacks, but also "to ensure they don’t give their protected pick to the Knicks."
The point guard heads to Washington fresh off six straight absences with the Hawks, and has played in just 10 games total in 2025-26 as a result of multiple health-related ailments, most notably an MCL sprain that sidelined him for 22 games from October 31 to December 14.
Despite being far from an ideal scenario for New York, the Wizards are approaching this situation with the highest level of logic, for taking it slow with Young not only provides the 27-year-old an extended timeline to continue his rehab, but also lessens the odds of them stringing together unwanted wins during their clear tankathon of a season.
Surprisingly, in an odd turn of events, fans may now be adding yet another reason to hold disdain for Young, who heads to his new team not only as a known Knicks killer but also a popper of the club's dreams to land another first-rounder in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Though a lot can happen between now and April, with Bondy's report in mind, one shouldn't expect to see this pick come to fruition.