Trae Young is a name on everyone’s lips these days. The Los Angeles Lakers‘ chances of making it to the Finals remain slim. On other evenings, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and his teammates appeared to be capable of defeating anyone. Then there were nights like Friday, when the Pacers crushed the Lakers 109-90.
“I think the way we lost tonight was a missed opportunity,” Davis told Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
While the Lakers added a few new peripheral players last offseason, they mostly returned to the same core that helped them reach the Western Conference Finals in 2023.
If the Lakers don’t make another surprising run, they’ll likely take a different approach this summer.
Will Trae Young line up for Lakers soon?
According to Buha, the Lakers are likely to look for another superstar to team with James and Davis in 2024. Buha said,
” I can confirm that from multiple sources. They are going third-star hunting this offseason,” “And we’ll see how that affects the D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) situation. We’ll see how—you probably have to give up Austin [Reaves] in almost any…third-star trade.”
Chasing a third star comes with risks, as the Lakers learned from the disastrous Russell Westbrook experiment. Making a blockbuster trade would most certainly cost vital young contributors like Reaves as well as draft capital. If the home-run swing fails to pay off, Los Angeles’ post-James-Davis prospects could suffer dramatically.
There’s also a lot of doubt about what remained from that era. James has a player option for next season and is set to become a free agent.
Acquiring an older star, such as James’ former teammate Kyrie Irving, might backfire spectacularly.
If the Lakers are serious about forming a new “Big Three,” it would be considerably more reasonable to look for a star who can serve as a long-term centerpiece. Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks’ point guard, would match that template. According to Buha, Young may be in Los Angeles’ plans:
“The one name I continually hear is Trae Young. He’s been to Laker playoff games before. He’s a Klutch Sports client. That’s probably the most realistic one right now.”
Young is a near-perfect target for the Lakers for a number of reasons. For starters, head coach Darvin Ham will have a slot for him if Russell declines his player option for next season. Second, Young is a more explosive player than Russell, and his offensive abilities would complement James and Davis in the short term.