ATLANTA – It was all about Trae Young when the Washington Wizards faced off against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. It was Young's first time in Atlanta since being involved in the trade, and he was given a proper standing ovation throughout the night for everything he had done for the franchise over the past eight years.
Two days later, the Wizards faced the Hawks again, but this time, it was the two guys who were traded for Young: CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. Both played well in the rematch and helped the Hawks win 126–96.
After the game, both players spoke about their time with the Wizards, and each gave different expressions on how they felt about the experience.
Kispert was drafted by the Wizards with the 15th pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He had been with the team since then before being traded to the Hawks in January.
"I spent my entire career competing against these guys in practice," Kispert told reporters after the game. "And doing it in a different uniform feels weird now, especially two days ago. Today felt a little more normal. I have incredible relationships with the guys on the other side. I felt like it was seeing old friends that I've missed since the trade."
Kispert was able to see the growth and development of the guys who are still on the team, and it felt like a bittersweet moment for him to play against them and have a good game.
McCollum, on the other hand, was traded to the Wizards last offseason and only played with the team for a few months. Ironically, his best game as a Wizard was in November against the Hawks, when he scored 46 points. This is probably the only thing he remembers from that stint.
"It was just another game," McCallum said. "I was there for 120 days, but it was a great time. I enjoyed my time there. The organization was great to me. The staff was great, the front office, the players, but I've moved on, and I think they've moved on too, and I wish them all the best, but just one more game that we needed to win."
This was the second time in McCallum's 13-year career that he was traded. Having once been president of the National Basketball Players Association, he knows the business of the game. The business probably felt like just another day at the office to him.
“I think this game means more than that [Corey]“He was there for a long time,” McCallum said. “For me, I had a cup of coffee and tea there. I had to figure out how to get to the facility without GPS, and then I got to work.”
As far as Kispert is concerned, this was the first trade of his career and there were some emotions associated with it.
"Saying goodbye to people you've had relationships with for four and a half years is really hard," Kispert said. "In the blink of an eye, I'm in a new city and playing with a new team. I felt like I'd been drinking from a fire hose for a long time."
It's safe to say Kispert is more comfortable a month after the trade, and he had the best game of his career tonight against his former team, finishing with 33 points. The funny thing is that no one except Kispert knew that he was close to his career high during the game.
Kispert said, "I didn't expect anyone to know, I wanted to keep it low-key. Knock on wood kind of thing."
For both players, they leave a situation where the organization's focus is on developing their youth, and it was going to be a bridge year for them. Now he is with a team that is competing based on its young players. McCallum and Kispert presented two sides of the same coin, and they may be satisfied with where they are now.
