Trae Young and the Wizards have agreed to a new four-year contract worth approximately $212MM, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. The fourth year of the deal will be a player option.
The value of Young’s new contract is approximately the maximum that a rival team could have offered him, rather than the max that Washington could give him. Young’s projected max is worth $212.9MM over four years from another suitor or $287.1MM over five years with the Wizards. However, the player option gives him some future flexibility.
Young declined his $48.97MM option for the 2026/27 season in order to become an unrestricted free agent. It was still anticipated that he would re-sign with the Wizards, who acquired him from Atlanta in January.
Young’s first-year salary is estimated to be $49.5MM, which amounts to 30 percent of the projected 2026/27 salary cap. During the 2029/30 season, the final year of the contract, Young will earn $56.9MM if he opts in.
It’s still a massive commitment and a higher figure than most experts had projected for Young, signaling not only Washington’s belief in him but also the possibility that another suitor might have been willing to give him a max offer. The new anti-tanking measures may have played a role in Washington’s thinking, with the belief that more teams would seek ways to be more competitive rather than rebuilding through the lottery.
Young’s contract agreement comes one day before Washington makes the top pick in the draft.
Based on Young’s projected salary, Washington may need to create roster spots and reduce payroll to open up full use of the mid-level exception or their $13.1MM trade exception, cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets.
Young was limited to a combined 15 games with Atlanta and Washington this past season. In 2024/25, he averaged 24.2 points and a career-high 11.6 assists per contest across 76 outings.
