Despite rust, Trae Young dazzles Wizards crowd in 19-minute debut - ESPN

WASHINGTON — It took nearly 21 minutes into Thursday night's game, but Trae Young's welcome-to-D.C. moment came in spectacular fashion.

After receiving a pass behind the 3-point line and pump-faking his defender into jumping past him, Young drove to the basket and faked a behind-the-back pass to guard Leaky Black in the left corner with his right hand before switching to his left to score a tough scoop layup.

The crowd at Capital One Arena went wild.

It didn't much matter that the Washington Wizards were down 15 points after that basket or that Young, in his first game since being traded to Washington in January, was on a 20-minute restriction. It also didn't much matter that Young started slow and made just one of the five 3-pointers he attempted in the game, finishing with 12 points and six assists in the Wizards' 122-112 loss to the Utah Jazz.

In his limited time on the court, Young, 27, proved he's the type of player the Wizards haven't had since the early, healthy days of John Wall. He displayed the fluidity and playmaking abilities that made him one of the most exciting players in the league during his seven-plus seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. Young dazzled the crowd with his ankle-breaking handles, no-look passes and moonshot 3-point attempts.

Young compared Thursday's game to his debut with the Hawks against the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden eight years ago, when he said he couldn't sleep the night before. He said his only expectation on Thursday was to shake off the rust from having not played since Dec. 27 and get back to game speed.

Young found offense for himself — off a pick-and-roll or a step-back jumper — but missed open 3s that he otherwise would have made in the past.

«I think I played