Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking for quality players to fill the gaps in their roster. They had a season of ups and downs in the 2022-23 edition. At first, they had a terrible start to the season due to a lack of balance and were suffering from a lot of injury concerns. But the redemption of the season happened when the front office had great success trading and signing players, they wanted right before the February trade deadline. The Lakers had a great run since then as they reached the Western Conference Finals. However, after a humiliating loss to the eventual champions, Denver Nuggets, they could not go further to the NBA Finals.
Nevertheless, many new heroes emerged this season for the Lakers. Some of them came from the February trades. Most of them will become free agents this season. But the problem is the LA side does not have much room in their cap space to keep all of them. After the Lakers reached the WCF, some of their players raised their stakes. Hence, it won’t be adequate for some of them what the front office of the Lakers would offer them. D’Angelo Russell will be an unrestricted free agent. If the Lakers have to trade D’Lo, they will look for another good point guard. For instance, the Lakers have their eyes on the top assist of the league from Atlanta Hawks, Trae Young.
Is It A Pipe Dream, Or Can The Lakers Acquire Trae Young?
The 24-year-old point guard has been very impressive over the years. He joined the Atlanta Hawks in 2018. But the Lakers had their eyes on Young for quite some time. An uncertain rumor that is floating around is that the Hawks are planning to trade this quality point guard. If it is true, the Lakers will jump at the opportunity to sign him. But The Athletic’s Jovan Buha says, even in the Lakers front office, they feel it is a pipe dream to think about signing Trae Young from the Hawks. Buha also mentioned that the Los Angeles Lakers have their eyes on Portland Trail Blazer’s Damian Lillard. But Trae Young is a much more impressive prospect.
However, Young mentioned on his podcast that he won’t be happy until he wins a championship. On June 9, Trae Young mentioned on his podcast, “Reaching the Conference Finals is cool but not enough.” The Hawks point guard was recently in LA promoting BODYARMOR. Moreover, fans are not sure what the Hawks’ point guard’s future holds for him. Trae Young has a home in Los Angeles. He is good friends with Michael Porter Jr. of the Denver Nuggets. But the 24-year-old has often expressed his desire to win a championship for Atlanta Hawks. But the question remains if Young will foreshadow his plans to move to LA Lakers in the offseason or not.
Dallas Also Looking To Sign Trae Young
Moreover, the latest information suggests the Atlanta Hawks mentioned they are open to trade any player but Trae Young. It is clear that they are planning to build their future roster around him. Young is a brilliant playmaker as well as a scorer. But the Hawks must deal with the Lakers as well as Dallas Mavericks, who, too, have an interest in signing Young.
Moreover, the Mavericks hold the 10th pick of the next draft currently. However, Dallas Mavericks are eyeing a trade deal to sign Hawks center Clint Capela. The Mavericks must think Capela’s rebounding and defense skills are a perfect fit for the team. Moreover, Clint Capela is pretty good at pick-and-roll situations as well as a rim-runner, which is perfect alongside the Mavericks main man Luka Doncic.
