Lakers’ Plan For Getting Trae Young From Hawks

The Los Angeles Lakers’ roster heading into next year currently looks even worse than it did last season. Not only did the front office fail to get any big-name talent via free agency, but it also allowed a reasonably versatile role player in Taurean Prince simply walk away.

Yes, there is some optimism surrounding rookie Dalton Knecht. But so far, through two Summer League games, he is 6-of-25 from the field. It’s safe to say he won’t be making a huge impact next season.

So where does that leave the Lakers? Well, they are in the hunt for Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls. And they seem to be eyeing two key role players.

Aside from that, though – the only other player L.A. has been linked to has been Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks. Earlier this week a report surfaced revealing what the Hawks were demanding from Rob Pelinka and Co. in any potential trade involving their current franchise centerpiece.

On Monday, Zach Lowe of ESPN further elaborated on what the situation between the Lakers and Hawks is as it pertains to Young.

“Young is potent enough to keep the Hawks around .500, and they don’t have much incentive to tank so long as the [San Antonio] Spurs control their first-round picks through 2027 thanks to the original [Dejounte] Murray trade,” he wrote.

“The smoothest way to reclaim those picks is trading Young to the Spurs, but San Antonio has not shown much recent interest in that, sources said. The Spurs understand the potential value of those picks, and they (for now) appear to favor holding them hostage over swapping them back to Atlanta.

“The Lakers, too, have shown little recent interest in Young, sources said. That could change if the price drops to L.A.’s liking. But the market for Young is as chilly as it has ever been.”

For better or worse, it seems like there is little movement on Young-to-Los Angeles at the moment.

Will that change as the Lakers get a little more desperate in the lead-up to next season? Time will tell.