New B/R Trade Proposal Sends Trae Young To The Lakers For Massive Picks and Player Package

Jackson Caudell | May 2, 2024

Jan 6, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) moves to the basket / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Once the Lakers season was officially over, the rumor mill started churning for how they were going to improve their team and a lot of those rumors have involved Hawks star point guard Trae Young.

Before diving deeper into this, it should be noted that the Hawks have not made Young available for trade and Young has not asked to be traded. This is all just speculation and I still think Young will remain in Atlanta when all is said and done this summer. It seems that Atlanta is heading towards breaking up their backcourt of Young and Dejounte Murray, but that could mean that Murray is the one who is traded. Atlanta was shopping Murray this season, including to the Lakers.

On ESPN's Get Up this week, ESPN's Brian Windhorst brought up Young as a trade target for the Lakers this offseason:

"There are opportunities for them, not necessarily in free agency, but via trade. They will have up to three first round picks that they can trade, starting on draft night, including this year's first-round pick if they want to and they have some pieces on their roster that they can use in trade. Now, what player would that be? Well, we will have to see what happens with star players as the season ends across the league. I think one name that you will hear as we get into this is Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks may look to break up their backcourt of Young and Dejounte Murray. The Lakers were interested in trading for Dejounte Murray during this season. Trae is the type of player that multiple teams will have interest in if the Hawks decide to make a move. I am not sure that he solves a lot of what the Lakers ills were, perimeter defense was an issue for the Lakers this season and in this series, that is something that Trae is not going to help with, but he is definitely a guy that will supercharge your offense and he would look potentially amazing next to LeBron and AD, but there are other options and things that will develop over the next two months."

The Lakers are sure to try and get Young this offseason, but what kind of trade package could the Lakers provide?

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey had a trade proposal that might intrigue the Hawks:

The Deal: Trae Young for Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, a 2029 first-round pick, a 2030 first-round pick swap and a 2031 first-round pick

"The rumors about Trae Young potentially joining the Lakers have been swirling for months. The Lakers' early playoff exit is going to fire those up again.

It's not hard to see why L.A. would be interested. Since Young's second season, the Atlanta Hawks have always had a good-to-great offense when him on the floor. He's one of the best pick-and-roll engines in the league, and the lob threat in actions with him and AD would be a nightmare to defend.

Presumably, that two-man game could be the foundation of something that would last beyond LeBron's retirement. And if there's a defensive anchor who might be able to mitigate some of what Young gives up on defense, it might be Davis.

The reasons for Atlanta to do something like this are equally obvious. The backcourt pairing of Young and Dejounte Murray hasn't worked. Both are better suited as clear No. 1 ball-handlers, and they've yet to find the right balance in a 1A-1B situation.

Trading either All-Star almost feels inevitable, and the argument for moving Young is that he'll almost certainly command the bigger return.

This deal would help the Hawks recoup some of what they lost in the Murray trade, while also adding a moneyball guard just shy of his prime to start alongside Murray in Reaves. Rui Hachimura would join a platoon of switchable, three-and-D forwards that includes Jalen Johnson and De'Andre Hunter. And Gabe Vincent could be a nice backup for the Murray-Reaves backcourt."

I will maintain that his type of package is just not good enough of a return for a player of Young's caliber. Picks that far down the line have some appeal, but not much. Even when LeBron retires/leaves L.A. and Anthony Davis is past his prime, they will have one of the games elite point guards in Young to keep them from bottoming out. Reaves, Hachimura, and Vincent are fine players, but nothing more. There should be more attractice offers for the Hawks if they choose to trade Young or they are forced too.

Still, there are going to be countless rumors about Young to the Lakers until something happens.