Hawks GM Onsi Saleh Explains Trae Young Decision: ‘The Right Trade for Everybody’

The Hawks GM opened up about the Young trade.

The Hawks dealt Trae Young to the Wizards for Corey Kispert and CJ McCollum | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Hawks started off the NBA’s trade season by dealing star guard Trae Young to the Wizards last week.

Washington sent Corey Kispert and CJ McCollum back to Atlanta in the move which ended Young’s seven-plus year tenure with the Hawks to start his NBA career. The trade gives Atlanta flexibility on its cap sheet, adding McCollum’s $30.7 million expiring deal and moving off Young’s $49 million player option for next year.

Basketball wise, the Hawks’ front office decided to build around the team’s young wings and mainly star forward Jalen Johnson. Atlanta made a leap defensively with the emergence of Dyson Daniels, last year’s Most Improved Player, and the acquisition of Nickeil Alexander-Walker over the offseason.

Mannix: What the Trae Young Trade Says About the Hawks’ Future

That made Young’s fit tricky and led to the end of his time in Atlanta, a fact that Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh addressed as he spoke to reporters for the first time since the deal.

“I think the guys we got back made a lot of sense for us,” Saleh said when asked about Young’s wonky fit in Atlanta via Connor Hines of Atlanta News First. “I think we’ve also seen the evolution of our team. We have a lot of ballhandlers, a lot of guys that can initiate offense. Jalen’s emergence, the guy’s basically averaging a triple-double this season. Dyson on ball, Nickeil on ball, you got CJ on ball, we have a lot of guys that can handle and fitting the evolution of where we’re going, I think this made the most sense for us, it made sense for Trae.

“I think this was the right trade for everybody.”

#Hawks GM Onsi Saleh on why Trae Young no longer fit in Atlanta:

"We have a lot of guys that can initiate offense... fitting the evolution of where we're going, this made the most sense for us" @ATLNewsFirst

(Question from @ATLjohnson18) pic.twitter.com/M0RNxgiSKv

— Connor Hines (@ConnorHinesTV) January 12, 2026

The Hawks were 2-8 in games that Young played in this season. He played five games in December, but has been out since Dec. 28 as he continues to nurse an MCL sprain, and has yet to make his Wizards debut. Kispert and McCollum have both made their Hawks debuts as the duo provides Atlanta with shooting but, more importantly, cap flexibility as Saleh continues to build the roster around Johnson.

Although there could have been questions about the point guard situation in Atlanta after the Young deal, the front office isn’t concerned in the slightest, confident in the ballhandlers already on its roster.

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