The Washington Wizards didn’t just dip a toe in the Trae Young market; they cannonballed into it. On January 8, they pulled the trigger on a deal that brought Trae to DC and shipped CJ McCollum plus Corey Kispert out the door.
The early buzz is that Trae might barely play this season, if he plays at all. Young has only played 10 games, and he’s at 19.3 points and 8.9 assists on 41.5% from the field and 30.5% from three. Reports around the league say the Wizards could be thinking long game with his rehab, and just as importantly, thinking draft position too.
And honestly, look at where they are right now, it tracks. The Wizards are 10-26, sitting 14th in the East, giving up 124.2 points per game, with a brutal 122.1 defensive rating. That’s not a “rush Trae back and chase the 10-seed” profile, that’s a “get a top pick, develop the kids, and pick your moment” profile.
That’s why this gets interesting with the trade deadline on February 5. The Wizards can tank with Trae on ice, lock in their lottery odds, then come out swinging with real star-chasing ammo in the offseason.
Or they can start stacking talent now, even if they keep Trae in bubble wrap the way the current chatter suggests. So with that said, here are two potential trades the Wizards should consider to pair Trae Young with more stars.
1. Trey Murphy III As The Perfect Trae Young Running Mate
Washington Wizards Receive: Trey Murphy III, Karlo Matkovic
New Orleans Pelicans Receive: Khris Middleton, 2028 first-round pick (PHX swap rights), 2029 first-round pick, 2032 first-round pick
Trey Murphy III is the one, and I don’t even think it’s close. He’s the exact archetype the Wizards don’t have right now, a legit 6’8 wing who can shoot, move without the ball, and punish teams the second they decide to load up on Trae Young.
This season, Murphy is putting up 21.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists a night, and he’s doing it with real efficiency: 49.5% from the field, 38.2% from three, and 90.8% at the line.
That’s not “hot stretch role player.” That’s a co-star line, on volume, with the kind of shot profile that makes defenses panic. If Trae is going to be Trae, meaning constant pressure, constant attention, constant blitzes, you need someone who turns those double-teams into points without needing 14 dribbles.
And here’s the part everyone has to accept: the price is going to be disgusting. Clutchpoints reported that the Pelicans’ asking price for Murphy starts at a minimum of two unprotected first-round picks.
Then, reporting out of NBC Sports Bay Area had a league source speculating the price tag could jump to three first-rounders. That’s basically the Pelicans saying, “We don’t want to do this, so if you want him, overpay.”
Honestly, I get it. Even with the Pelicans being a mess, Murphy is one of the few guys they can point to and say, “This works in any era, next to any star.” But the reason this is even a conversation is that their season has gone off the rails.
They’re 8-31, sitting 15th in the West, and it hasn’t been a planned, competitive tank either. They give up 122.7 per game and own a 120.6 defensive rating. That’s the kind of profile where your front office starts looking at the spreadsheet and saying, “Okay, what’s the cleanest way to reset this?”
That’s where Khris Middleton comes in, and why he’s the sneaky swing piece in this whole concept. Middleton is on a $33.3 million expiring in 2025-26. Expirings are basically oxygen for teams with ugly books, and the Pelicans have exactly that problem.
Zion Williamson makes $39.4 million, Jordan Poole makes $31.8 million, Dejounte Murray carries a $30.8 million cap hit, and Murphy himself is at $25.0 million. That’s a lot of money tied up on a team that can’t guard anyone and is buried in the standings.
So if you’re the Pelicans, an expiring $33.3 million plus three first-round picks is not just “assets.” It’s flexibility. It’s a chance to stop being boxed in by your own cap sheet, get real draft capital back, and decide later what direction you’re actually going.
For the Wizards, Murphy’s contract is a feature, not a bug. He’s at $25.0 million in 2025-26, and he’s under team control beyond this year, so you’re not renting him for 40 games and praying. You’re paying a premium for certainty, for age, for fit, and for a guy who can scale up next to Trae without killing your spacing or your defense.
Trae plus Murphy isn’t just “more points.” It’s structure. It’s Trae creating chaos, Murphy finishing possessions, and the Wizards finally having a wing who can actually make opponents pay for the attention Trae draws. If the Wizards are serious about building something real around Trae, this is the type of overpay that’s worth it.
2. Nic Claxton Unlocks A Defensive Twin-Tower Identity
Washington Wizards Receive: Nic Claxton
Brooklyn Nets Receive: Bilal Coulibaly, Malaki Branham, Cam Whitmore, AJ Johnson, 2026 first-round pick (PHX swap rights)
If the Wizards want the fastest path to “we can actually guard somebody,” this is it. Nic Claxton is the kind of center who changes your entire scheme. This season he’s at 13.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, and a wild 4.1 assists, with 1.3 blocks on 58.5% shooting. That assists number matters, because it’s the key to the whole Trae fit.
Here’s the idea. Slide Alex Sarr to power forward full-time, keep him as the roaming erase-button, and let Claxton be the anchor. Sarr has turned into a monster already, 17.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 blocks, and he’s up to 36.6% from three. If your 7-footer is in the mid-30s from deep, you can actually sell real spacing, even in a twin-tower look.
Offensively, Claxton helps Trae in a way most bigs don’t. You can run high-post touches, elbow splits, and short-roll playmaking, so Trae doesn’t have to spam 60 pick-and-rolls a night just to create a decent shot. Claxton can catch, turn, and hit cutters, and that means the Wizards can build an offense that doesn’t die the second teams blitz Trae.
Defensively, it’s even simpler. The Wizards are sitting at a 122.1 defensive rating right now. They don’t need “a little improvement.” They need a new identity. Claxton plus Sarr gives you two elite rim protectors who can clean up mistakes, and Trae’s mistakes are coming no matter what, because that’s the price of having him run your offense.
On the money side, Claxton is at $25.4 million this season, and the Wizards can absorb the gap in this framework. The Wizards aren’t operating like a capped-out contender, they’re building, so they can take on slightly more salary in the short term if the talent upgrade is worth it. The real point is that Claxton’s number isn’t some roster-killer contract, it’s a clean mid-tier starter salary for a center who actually swings your identity.
For the Nets, this is the kind of “yes” package that actually makes sense. Bilal Coulibaly has hit a bit of a slump, but he still looks like a real long-term piece, and adding the 2026 Suns pick (swap) is the type of gamble they can justify if they’re flipping a core guy for a broader asset base.
The Draft Pick In The Summer
This is why the “Trae might barely play” angle matters. The Wizards are already 10-26 and 14th in the East, so the path to a top-three pick is right there if they lean into the tank.
If they land in that range, the name I want is AJ Dybantsa. At BYU this season he’s putting up 23.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, and he’s doing it on 58.3% from the field.
And it’s not just rim pressure and tough shotmaking, he’s already showing real three-point juice too, sitting around 34.3% from three on roughly 2.5 attempts per game, which is exactly the “keep shooting it, keep teams honest” baseline you want from a big wing scorer.
The extra sauce with Dybantsa is how quickly he’s translating the high-end stuff. He’s not just stacking empty buckets, BYU has him as a centerpiece in Big 12 play already, and he’s had real statement games, including a 24-point night to open conference play on the road.
Draft analysts also see the upside; he’s already logged multiple 30-point games as a freshman and even popped a monster 33/10/10 triple-double earlier this season, earning early No. 1 pick considerations..
That’s the kind of two-way wing scoring profile that instantly fits next to Trae, and it also fits next to Murphy, because now you’re stacking size and shot-making instead of praying a small guard duo figures out defense.
Dybantsa can attack closeouts, create off the dribble, and still slide into the “finish the play” role when Trae bends the floor, which is the exact balance the Wizards need if they’re serious about building something that lasts.
Final Thoughts
This is the blueprint that actually feels scary. Trae Young plus Trey Murphy plus Nic Claxton gives you a real offense, a real defense ceiling, and a real lineup balance.
Then you add a top-three pick, and suddenly you’re talking about a potential five of Trae Young, Trey Murphy, AJ Dybantsa, Alex Sarr, and Nic Claxton the next season.
And it’s not just the starters. If Tre Johnson keeps growing as a sixth-man flamethrower type, he’s already at 12.3 points in his first season. Bub Carrington gives you real table-setting at 9.5 points and 4.4 assists.
Justin Champagnie is a useful glue wing at 6.6 points and 5.4 rebounds, and Kyshawn George looks like a legit secondary creator at 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. Add a cheap backup center, and you’ve basically built a full playoff rotation.
If the Wizards execute this kind of scheme, I’m not even being dramatic, they can jump into the top-tier conversation in the East fast. The defense would finally have teeth, and with Trae running the show, that’s all you need to turn “rebuild” into “problem.”
