One Bold Prediction Suggests Trae Young Won't End Up With the Lakers

Jackson Caudell | May 11, 2024

Jan 30, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles past Los Angeles / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The first big day of the offseason for the Atlanta Hawks is tomorrow, with the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery. Atlanta is going to find out tomorrow where it will be drafting in June and going into the lottery tomorrow, the Hawks have a 13.9% chance to jump into the top four and a 3% chance to land the No. 1 pick. While it might be the first big day of the offseason for Atlanta, it will certainly not be the last.

Atlanta is going to have a decision to make regarding the backcourt pairing of Dejounte Murray and Trae Young and the likelihood of one of them being traded seems high. The Hawks are without their own draft picks for the next few seasons after 2024 and could not start a complete rebuild without all of their picks back, meaning they will likely need to decide on a point guard to build around for the future. Will it be Dejounte Murray or 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 up to the trade deadline.

The team that has been associated with trading for Young the most has been the Los Angeles Lakers. After another exit from the playoffs and firing head coach Darvin Ham, the Lakers head into the offseason hoping to land a third star to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and Young has come up in a lot of trade talks.

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey made a bold prediction that Young won't end up in Los Angeles after all and that the Lakers would go in another direction.

"Trae Young winding up on the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the loudest and most persistent rumors in the NBA for months.

The logic is pretty simple. Young is a star. He didn't fit well with Dejounte Murray for the last two seasons. The Lakers went out in the first round, and they've historically loved to go star-hunting.

There's certainly a world in which Young in L.A. would work. He's one of the game's most dynamic offensive engines and pick-and-roll ball-handlers. He and Anthony Davis could form a potent one-two punch that could potentially grow beyond LeBron James' eventual retirement.

But the Lakers just got bullied by the bigger Denver Nuggets in the playoffs. The Nuggets are now getting bullied by the even bigger Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round. It's hard to watch this postseason and think the answer to L.A.'s problems is to get smaller and more offense-first.

The Lakers' front office has made a number of head-scratching moves since Rob Pelinka took over, but it presumably notices the trend as well.

L.A. already has plenty of offense and shot creation from LeBron, AD and Austin Reaves. It was fourth in the NBA in points per 100 possessions after the All-Star break.

What it needs is perimeter defense and some bruising bigs who can spare Davis from some of the punishment that comes from playing center."

On ESPN's Get Up, 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."

One thing that should be noted is that Young left Klutch Sports and is now represented by CAA Sports. Does it mean he won't be on the Lakers? Not necessarily, but it is noteworthy.

When I say it, I really mean it..
Another Day, Another Opportunity‼️ pic.twitter.com/9SIBo22Lg3

— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 7, 2024

I have said since the offseason that the Lakers trade packages that they could offer are not enough for a player of Young's caliber. Austin Reaves and a package of first round picks that won't convey for a few years should not be appealing to the Hawks, but that does not mean a trade won't happen.

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