It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season for the Atlanta Hawks. The team lost to the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament and now their season was over. The Hawks were an interesting team heading into the year with Trae Young and Dejounte Murray but the two guards didn’t end up being a perfect match.
There’s now been a lot of trade speculation around Murray and Young and the Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to both. However, Young appears to be the player the Lakers covet more. With the Hawks missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, it could be time for major changes. Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd believes that Young is going to end up in Los Angeles.
“Atlanta and Chicago played, but the winner was the Lakers,” Cowherd said on the April 18 episode of “The Herd.” Trae Young, my guess, is coming to LA. So they’re gonna add Trae Young, Atlanta is gonna go with Dejounte Murray and it’s very clear.”
Whatever the Hawks are doing clearly isn’t working and Young is their most valuable trade asset. Considering they only recently traded a lot of assets to acquire Murray, they may be more keen on building around him than Young, who has been with the team since 2018.
Los Angeles Lakers to Have ‘Serious Interest’ in Trae Young
This isn’t the first time the Lakers have been linked to Trae Young. There’s been speculation about him joining the team for years due to his ties to Klutch Sports. According to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, the Lakers’ interest in Young is real.
“If the Hawks decide Young is the guard to move, the Lakers are believed to be one of the teams with serious interest,” Pincus wrote in an April 15 column. “Whether he’s the right fit is debatable (he doesn’t play well off the ball, and LeBron James usually has it in his hands to end games), but the Lakers have been known to chase players that may or may not fit (Russell Westbrook).”
The Lakers will have to give up some key players if they want to land Young. It’s likely the team will lose Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura in the trade. They’d also have to give up several draft picks. The Lakers would be relying on LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Young being good enough to win a championship.
Does Trae Young Get Los Angeles Lakers Over the Hump?
One thing that’s interesting about a potential trade for Trae Young is that it finally gives the Lakers a young star to pair with Anthony Davis after LeBron James retires. A duo of Young and Davis should keep the team competitive for several seasons.
However, is adding Young to the current team enough to win a championship? The Lakers would be giving up flexibility and depth if they’re going to have three players on max contracts. The team already tried that with Russell Westbrook, which was a disaster. Young is a completely different player than Westbrook and is a much better fit with James and Davis but he’s a small guard who doesn’t play much defense. If the trio of James, Davis and Young could stay healthy, that could be a team that gets hot and wins a championship but it’s not a guarantee.
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