Lakers Rumors: LA Linked To Superstar Point Guard As Potential Offseason Trade

Current Atlanta Hawks All-Star point guard Trae Young has not had a great start to his 2022-23 season, at least not so far.

Early on, tensions between Young and Atlanta head coach Nate McMillan had devolved so much that McMillan considered resigning, at least according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Hawks CEO Steven Coonin quickly refuted the claim that there was that much trouble in paradise.

Whatever was happening, it seemed to infect everyone in the Hawks organization. Longtime team president Travis Schlenk, who traded for the rights to draft Young in 2018 (Long Beach native Landry Shamet, a five-year NBA pro with the New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors, replaced him), quit and transitioned into a consulting gig with the club. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported this week that the team was actively striving to trade power forward John Collins, who has been included in trade rumors practically since he was drafted by Schlenk.

Play on the hardwood has been uninspired, too, despite the Hawks' summer trade for another playmaking young guard, the more defensively-inclined Dejounte Murray.

At 28-28, the Hawks are a decidedly "mid" squad, the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, just two seasons removed from a surprise Eastern Conference Finals berth.

A well-informed NBA source tells Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report that Young could be the next All-Star to demand a trade out of town, perhaps as early as this summer -- and that he may be eyeing your Los Angeles Lakers as a destination.

“I think Trae will want out after the season,” a source informed Pincus. “The Hawks probably try to get out of John Collins and others by the deadline, but Trae’s a long shot. Maybe the [Lakers] in July with his ties to Klutch [Sports].”

The two-time All-Star point guard is averaging 27 points on .430/.326/.886 shooting splits this season (though for his career he's connecting on a much better 35.1% of his treys), 10 assists, three rebounds and a steal. He is at least somewhat to blame for these bizarre chemistry issues, but could a leader like Los Angeles Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron James take him on? Or would he take to the kind of passive-aggressive social media sniping that has alienated teammates in the past?

A James/Anthony Davis/Trae Young union could probably only come about with some sign-and-trades of current Lakers this summer. Is Young good enough to become the third banana in LA, and force the club to sign a bunch of players to veteran's minimum deals? He is a terrible defender, and as we saw with the Great Russell Westbrook Experiment (2021-2023, RIP), it's kind of important to have at least on perimeter player who tries on defense. He may be worth a look if it's in an Anthony Davis trade, given that Young is far more durable and the team could mask his flaws on defense with good depth, but I wouldn't trust him if the plan was constructing a new "Big Three."