Trae Young Just Joined an All-Time NBA List With His New Deal

Trae Young signed a four-year, $212 million extension with the Washington Wizards, and the numbers are already rewriting his place in NBA history. According to HoopsHype, Young is now inside the top 20 all-time in guaranteed NBA earnings. That puts him in a bracket with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry — the kind of company that most point guards his size never even sniff.

ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news first. Young opted out of his player option for next season, then quickly locked in long-term with Washington. The deal keeps him in D.C. through his prime years, assuming he stays healthy. And that’s a real question, because Young only played five games for the Wizards after the Hawks traded him there back in January. He was dealing with an injury, spent most of that time watching from the bench as the front office also swung a deal for Anthony Davis.

So the Wizards paid top-20 money to a guy who has barely worn their jersey. That’s a bet. But it’s a bet on what Young did in Atlanta, not what he’s done lately.

Back in 2021, Young took the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals. He was unguardable in the pick-and-roll, hit absurd floaters, talked endless trash, and looked like the kind of player you build a franchise around. That version of Trae Young earned himself a five-year max with Atlanta. That version is why he’s now top 20 in career earnings before his 30th birthday.

But here’s the thing. He hasn’t been that player for five years. Not consistently. He’s still a strong point guard, still a dangerous scorer and a legit playmaker, but the magic from that 2021 run faded somewhere along the way. Maybe it was the Hawks’ roster chaos. Maybe teams figured him out. Maybe it’s just hard to stay elite when you’re 6-foot-1 and defenses are bigger, faster, and allowed to be physical.

Washington is betting a $212 million extension that the change of scenery unlocks the old version. And they have some help coming. The Wizards landed the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which happens Tuesday. Pairing that rookie with Anthony Davis and a motivated Trae Young could give D.C. something it hasn’t had in a long time: a real core.

It’s a lot of ifs. If Young stays on the floor. If he rediscovers that 2021 gear. If the rookie hits. But the Wizards committed to him anyway. And now Trae Young is sitting on a pile of guaranteed money that only 19 other players in NBA history can claim. That’s not a small thing for a small guard in a league that doesn’t always reward them.