Trae Young’s debut with the Washington Wizards will have to wait another month at least.
Young, who is still recovering from MCL and quad injuries in his right leg, is not going to be evaluated again until after the All-Star break next month, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
That means that Young won’t be on the court with the Wizards until their Feb. 19 matchup with the Indiana Pacers at the very earliest. The NBA’s All-Star weekend is scheduled for Feb. 13-15 at the Intuit Dome in Southern California.
Young was dealt to the Wizards earlier this month in exchange for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, ending his tenure with the Atlanta Hawks. Young had spent his entire career with the Hawks after he was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in 2018.
Young is in the fourth year of a five-year, $215 million deal this season. He could hit free agency this summer, too, as he has a player option for $49 million next season.
Young has only played in 10 games so far this season while dealing with an MCL sprain in his right knee that has reportedly caused him residual pain. He’s also battling a right quad contusion, too. In those 10 games, he’s averaged 19.3 points and 8.9 assists.
“Coming over here doing these physicals, they want to make sure I’m right and things like that,” Young said in his introductory news conference with the Wizards.
“I don’t want to come back and not be myself for this team and for this city. So I’ll just leave it up to them to make sure they let you know when I’m coming back — hopefully soon.”
The Wizards will enter Wednesday night’s game with the Los Angeles Clippers with just a 10-28 record. They’ve lost three of their last four games and now sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
While Young will undoubtedly make a huge difference for the Wizards on the court, the team clearly isn’t willing to rush anything. The Young era in Washington, however long it ends up being, will have to wait.
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