WASHINGTON — Trae Young said turnover in the Atlanta Hawks' front office contributed to his falling out with the organization ahead of his January trade to the Washington Wizards, discussing the situation on Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr.'s podcast in an episode released Monday. Atlanta traded Young to Washington in exchange for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, and Young signed a four-year, $213 million contract with the Wizards in July that includes a player option for the 2029-30 season.
Young said he did not receive the same support from current Hawks president of basketball operations Onsi Saleh that he had from Travis Schlenk, the executive who originally drafted him. "I love the (Hawks) owner, Tony (Ressler), and all the ownership group and everybody down there," Young said. "So I have much love to a lot of people down there in Atlanta, so I never wanted to leave (in) a bad way. But once we got on that third GM, and we brought in Onsi, it's like you don't necessarily feel as comfortable as you did (when) you got there." Young added, "There are so many things I won't say until later on, but sometimes it's just better just to let things go."
Asked by Porter when he first sensed his standing had changed, Young pointed to working under three different lead executives. "I've never worked in another job, but I'm sure it's like this in other jobs where if a new boss is hired, if the new CEO comes in, if a new GM comes in, he's gonna want to bring in his people," Young said. "He may make some cuts. He may move some people here and there. He's gonna figure out who he likes." He continued, "So, obviously, this was my third GM. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's different. I've experienced, obviously, the one that drafted me, and then we brought in another GM who made some (changes). And so when we brought our third one, we all knew around me that it's either we're going to be around here for the long haul and we win or it may be time for everybody to just part their ways."
Schlenk, now the Wizards' senior vice president of player personnel, traded the draft rights of No. 3 pick Luka Doncic to the Dallas Mavericks in 2018 for the rights to No. 5 pick Young and a protected 2019 first-round pick. Schlenk stepped down as Atlanta's top basketball executive early in the 2022-23 season, and successor Landry Fields was fired after the 2024-25 campaign. Saleh was elevated from assistant general manager to general manager in April 2025, the third front-office leader of Young's tenure in Atlanta.