Trae Young Sat Out on Purpose. The Wizards Paid Him $212 Million for It.

The Washington Wizards had a plan, and it involved Trae Young not playing basketball. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the franchise made a quiet promise to the point guard before signing him to a four-year, $212 million extension this summer: sit out, let us tank, and we’ll take care of you.

Windhorst laid it out on the Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take podcast. The Wizards traded for Young from the Atlanta Hawks knowing full well they wanted the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. And they wanted that pick to be AJ Dybantsa, the highly touted prospect everyone expects to be a franchise cornerstone.

Here’s the problem. If Young played, he might have won them games. Even a few extra wins could have cost Washington the top spot in the lottery. So the Wizards needed him on the bench. Not injured, exactly, but unavailable. And to make that work, they had to promise him the bag before he ever touched the floor for them in a meaningful game.

“When they did that contract, they already decided they were drafting Dybantsa,” Windhorst said. “So, they were like, Trae Young is going to be our franchise point guard. Here’s the thing, though: they already promised him they were going to sign him when they traded for him. And the reason they did that was that they needed him not to play. Because if he played, they might not have won a bunch more games, and they might not have gotten the number one pick.”

Young missed most of the 2025-26 season after the trade. The team and player both danced around the obvious reason. But Windhorst didn’t mince words. He explained that the Wizards told Young they were on the same page, they were investing in him, and they needed him to sit. And that Young agreed because he knew he’d get paid either way.

“So, if you’re going to be a free agent, the last thing you’re going to do is basically say that I’m injured for six months,” Windhorst said. “So, they told him, ‘Trae, we’re going to take care of you, don’t worry. We’re on the same page. We’re invested in you. We’re going to bench you.’ So, Trae already knew he was going to get paid. And that’s why he agreed to it. The Wizards can’t say this publicly, but that’s what happened.”

It worked out exactly how Washington drew it up. They landed the first overall pick and selected Dybantsa. Young got his $212 million extension. The Wizards now have a potential superstar duo — except one of them hasn’t played a real game for the team yet, and the other is a rookie.

The league office probably won’t love this story. Tanking is an open secret in the NBA, but publicly admitting you sat a healthy, expensive player to preserve lottery odds is the kind of thing that gets memos sent. The Wizards have not confirmed Windhorst’s account, and they probably never will. But the details line up too cleanly to ignore.