Windhorst Rips Trae Young's Contract, 'Not an Intellectually Sane Argument' Teams Eyed Wizards PG

One prominent NBA insider provided a withering assessment of the Washington Wizards' massive investment in guard Trae Young.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported Monday the two sides agreed to a four-year, $212 million deal after he declined his player option for 2026-27.

Colleague Brian Windhorst reacted to the move in Tuesday's episode of the Hoop Collective podcast. He said at the 46:25 mark it's "instantaneously one of the worst contracts in the league."

"I don't think they could trade this contract unless they attach the No. 1 pick to it," Windhorst said.

He also later argued it's "not an intellectually sane argument" to say there was enough interest across the league to justify reaching this dollar figure with Young.

It's certainly difficult to square how little the Wizards paid to acquire Young and what he'll earn moving forward.

In January, the Atlanta Hawks only managed to get guard CJ McCollum and forward Corey Kispert for the four-time All-Star. The deal was a pure salary dump from Atlanta's perspective.

Now, after playing just five times for the Wizards, Young managed to get a little under what would've been a max offer from an outside team.

JP Finlay of NBC4 Washington reported opinions on Young's value shifted after the NBA rolled out its draft lottery reforms. He said Young's representatives were "expecting multiple max deals around the NBA."

The Athletic's Josh Robbins provided a similar narrative:

"But in recent weeks, Wizards decision-makers became convinced that, with the NBA's new anti-tanking measures compelling more teams to compete, Young was going to command maximum-salary contract offers from other franchises through either a straight free-agent signing or a sign-and-trade proposal."

Now, nobody can say for sure what Young's market would've looked like if he had entered free agency and been available to the highest bidder. There are at least some obvious factors that would've hurt him at the negotiating table.

Young has shot 34 percent or worse from three-point range in three of the last four years. He's a terrible defender, something that has been true for almost all of his NBA career. And the Hawks advanced past the first round once with him on the roster.

Young's high-volume scoring and playmaking didn't translate into a lot of winning basketball with Atlanta.

Especially with how cautious general managers are about exceeding the first or second apron of the luxury tax, it was easy to foresee a scenario where he got squeezed in free agency.

Positioning the 27-year-old as a big part of their future made sense for the Wizards when they originally added him. They may have been overly optimistic in how valuable he'll be moving forward.