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Trae Trading Places. Plus, What’s Going On With the Thunder? | Real Ones
07 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the latest news about Trae Young's potential trade?
What's popping, man? Happy New Year to all my Real Ones. This is Logan Murdoch here for another edition of Real Ones, the first of 2026. Myself, Howard Beck, and Raja Bell are in the building where we talk about the biggest story in the league right now. which is Trey Young.
And if he is going to get traded, or he is going to get traded, but where he's going to get traded to, is it going to be Washington or is it going to be another stealth team? We get into all of that. We get into Trey's reputation around the league and how that's either going to help or hurt him.
We get into his game and whether that's going to help or hurt him in the back stretch of his career as he enters his prime and what can go in either direction. And we get into a little bit of OKC. There's a sky falling. They're 6-6 over the last 12. Who knows? Is JW to step up? Does Shea? Is he taking on too much responsibility? Does Chet need to step up? All of that. Talk about that.
Then we get into a fascinating discussion about Jalen Brown. Then we get into another fascinating discussion about Raj's memory in the 2001 NBA Finals and give flowers to Ty Lue. Really, really fun episode. Make sure you guys tap in with us every Tuesdays and Fridays. And you know what time it is. Realonesmailbag at gmail.com. Realonesmailbag at gmail.com. Realonesmailbag at gmail.com. Yeah, man.
Big things going on in 2026 for Realones. We're going big places. So we want you to come along for the ride with us because this is for all of us. For now, Tuesday episode.
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Chapter 2: How does Trae Young's reputation affect his trade value?
Cliff, play the theme music.
real ones logan murdoch here howard beck there raja bell over there real ones in 4k we're getting ready for you know the big move as they say it's good to see you guys man it's really good to see you guys happy new year um i would do all the pleasantries but let's get right to it man we're talking we're talking trey young and the atlanta hawks okay reports came out last night it's a classic it's
We don't know what we're going to talk about, or we do know what we're going to talk about, and then some big news comes in, and then we're like, okay, we need to talk about this. This is the biggest story in the NBA, so we're going to talk Trey Young, who him and his agents, Aaron Mitts, Drew Morrison, and Austin Brown, are working with the franchise on a trade. This is from Shams Sarania. And
Then that was the first bit of news. And then the second bit of news is that the Washington Wizards are vying for Trey Young's services. Now, Trey Young has a player option for next season. The Washington Wizards, reportedly, this is according to a friend of the show, Mark Stein, they are potentially pursuing Trey Young with – C.J.
McCollum's expiring deal and Trae Young has a player option for next year that he's presumably going to pick up. First off, I'll start with Howard on this.
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Chapter 3: What challenges is the Oklahoma City Thunder currently facing?
I get why the Hawks want to trade Trae Young at this point. We have talked about this throughout the podcast and throughout this season. But why the Wizards? Why do the Wizards want Trae Young? Why would they presumably want him?
Yeah, you know, it's funny, actually, the way this unfolded yesterday. Credit to our buddy Mark Stein, because he had this first, it was like at 4.53, I jotted down, that the Wizards have emerged as a legitimate destination for Trey Young is the way he framed it. And then like a while later, Shams had the other reporter about Trey and his agents working with the Hawks on this, blah, blah, blah.
But it was weird because it was, usually it's a... this player's now up for grabs. He's being marketed, he's being shopped, whatever. And then you start hearing names of teams and possibilities. But this was like, the Wizards are a possible destination before we really knew for sure that they were looking to move him.
Chapter 4: Is there a problem with the Thunder's recent performance?
So it's all kind of unfolding in a funky way.
Chapter 5: What does Raja Bell remember about the 2001 NBA Finals?
Just everybody's got their own, obviously, sources of information on this. The thing that hit me the first, or that hit me right off the bat was... Okay, Washington, team that's in a rebuild, lots of cap room, lots of flexibility, lots of contracts they can move, CJ McCollum expiring, all this.
Chapter 6: How did Ty Lue influence the 2001 Finals against the Lakers?
But why, why, why, why would the Washington Wizards want Trae Young at this stage? Because one, they are still in tank mode and they have reason to stay in tank mode. Their pick is top eight protected, but if it falls below eight, it goes to the Knicks. So the Wizards still need to be tanking this year.
Now, maybe they think Trae Young will continue to help them tank, given some of the results in Atlanta. But why would the Wizards, after what looked like a multi-year tank and still young, still rebuilding, want to go all in for a high-priced star who has obviously not produced in the way or has effectively or been as much of a contributor to winning as he has been with the Hawks?
It doesn't make a lot of sense unless you get to that other line in Mark Stein's report, which was, It remains to be seen, essentially, whether the Hawks might have to include draft capital to offload him, which is wild, right? A guy who is an all-star caliber player, one of the top assist guys every year, one of the top three-point shooters, just a very talented, if flawed, player.
You're not usually the one including the draft capital, but it seems like that might be the case. And we'll see how this unfolds. We'll see if he ends up with Washington.
If Trae Young is now firmly on the market, as he appears to be, and if Trae Young and his agents are working with the Hawks to find a new home, as this all appears to be, and no one's denying it, I would expect, A, something's happening in the next few weeks before the February 5th deadline, and B...
washington is a really intriguing if strange potential landing spot i think with this raja is but i know this is not your bag but i'm gonna throw it to you anyway um my thing is with this raja is it doesn't it doesn't seem this particular trade to uh washington and we'll see if it does happen like what the final piece of the deal is but it doesn't seem to help anyone involved here, right?
Because if you're Trey Young, you're getting into your late 20s, you seem to be wanting to go to a championship destination. This seems like another rebuild. It doesn't necessarily help Washington because all that they have been saying, at least behind the scenes, is that they're going to shed salary and that they're going to try to take on your expirings. That's cool.
And we're going to just try to draft or try to, you know, compile a whole bunch of draft capital, right? And then see what we do from here, right? And, you know, see if a young guy could fit or maybe somebody else could fit within that framework. But, like, we're trying to tank.
And this seems to... All this is going to do, I feel like, if he goes to the Hawks, if Trae Young goes to the Hawks, it just piss him off. It's piss Trae Young off. And... He's going to make his money, but he's not going to get what he ultimately wants, which is, you know, control in the marketplace and, you know, a chance to win as a player on this one.
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Chapter 7: What factors should teams consider when trading for Jalen Brown?
Right. If you're Trey Young and you have given you know, you put made the Hawks relevant. Would you be pissed off that they would be, hey, man, you're going to send me to this place after all I've done for the franchise? I get you if you want to leave. That seems kind of out of pocket for the Hawks to entertain this. At least send him to a contender.
It's not like they're sending him to play with Giannis. They're sending him to go play in NBA Siberia at this point. Yeah, I mean – No offense to Siberia. Shout out to Siberia. I'm sure we've got a fan.
Yeah. I mean, as a player, you can feel however you want to feel. And yeah, I'd probably feel, you know, to some degree like that. And I'm sure Trey doesn't want to wind up in Washington ultimately. But, you know, you don't have any control over where they send you in some of these cases. I mean, some people are powerful enough and contractually in a situation where you actually do control it.
Trey is just a, it's a, it's a weird one. You said nobody wins in this trade. Doesn't win.
Chapter 8: What is the significance of the Thunder's recent losses?
I don't think Washington wins. There is a world in which, you know, CJ McCollum, uh, plugged in to Atlanta. I think they may win a little bit. Um, they, I, you canceled that if they have to give up draft capital to, to offload trade, but like if they're not giving it up and they're just getting CJ McCollum back, um, I can make a case where that's, that's a good look for them. Um, Yeah.
You know, I don't, I don't know. These are, obviously this isn't my bag necessarily, but you know, Trey's in a weird spot as a player. Like what, what are you? What do you represent to losing teams that are trying to tank that may not want to be viable as it relates to like lifting their floor up to a degree that prevents them from doing that?
And with winning teams, I mean, can you fit into a winning recipe? Can you can you? are you willing to augment your game at this point in your career to be a better fit? Are there things that you can do if you plugged into like a point guard needy team like the Rockets, who I always use, right?
Like, are you at the point in your career where we might be willing to make some accommodations in our own game in search of what you're talking about, Logan, which is a destination that you might be able to win. But that's not a one-way street in terms of Atlanta sending him to Siberia, right?
He's got some culpability in this as a player, and obviously other teams would have to see him in the light that would suggest he could help them win. And I don't have the answer to how they see him right now. I just don't.
You brought up a really good point, though. The thing about Trey Young that is so frustrating is the lack of balance he has with talent and how to use that talent. Because when I watch him play, he can do everything. He can shoot the ball. He can do everything with play defense. He's not willing to do that. But he's one of those guys that you see the stats and you're like,
man, why isn't his teams better? Why doesn't he lift up his teams? And he's at a point right now where he has to change habits. Like it is what it is at this point.
If he wants to get to the heights that he ultimately says he wants to get to, whether that's in Washington or anywhere else, because I think at this point where a lot of factors are at play here, it's one, it's the new apron era that we see ourselves in, right? Where like these high price players who don't give you everything are
aren't necessarily in demand as they used to be right like you're going to have to give up draft capital to get them or you're going to have to pay a high salary on these basically a hard cap my question to you though raja is how does he do that on the fly not only like with a new team but also mid-season if this happens right because it's very clear that they're trying to get the hawks are trying to get up off of him mid-season that's a really hard transition to go through
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