Trae Young may be the latest star guard to be targeted by the Los Angeles Lakers, but he's far from the first unobtainable difference-maker they've considered. Just about every star guard that has changed teams over the past half-decade has been credibly linked to the Lakers. It's not just the obvious ones, like Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. There were brief Donovan Mitchell rumors last offseason. They were interested in swiping Chris Paul immediately after his 2021 Finals run. As recently as December, The Athletic's Jovan Buha reported that the Lakers were monitoring Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal as possible targets.
When a star perimeter player becomes available, he is inevitably linked to the Lakers. It's not hard to explain why. Players want to play in Los Angeles. The Lakers have a history of acquiring great players for less than they are worth. LeBron James has been angling for another high-end ball-handler for years in the hopes that he could dominate less of the Laker offense. So when a big name becomes available, the Lakers do their due diligence.
What do Mitchell, Paul, Durant, Lillard and Beal have in common? None of them have ever played for the Lakers. The Lakers would have loved to change that, but they couldn't for the simplest of reasons: they didn't have the assets to acquire those players.
They now find themselves in a relatively similar position with Young, who was linked to L.A. earlier this week. The Lakers would surely love to add an All-NBA point guard before his 25th birthday. Young, languishing on a play-in team in Atlanta right now, might relish the opportunity to win in Los Angeles. Klutch Sports represents James, Young and Anthony Davis, and packaging the trio on the NBA's highest-profile team would be a win for all parties involved. It would be a perfect fit if the Lakers could make a sensible trade offer for Young.
We live in a world in which the Brooklyn Nets just successfully demanded four unprotected first-round picks, one unprotected swap and two high-end young players at premium positions for Durant. The Lakers don't have four first-round picks to offer. They have two: No. 17 overall in June and their unprotected 2029 selection. They don't have two high-end young players to offer either. Austin Reaves qualifies as one, but he is a restricted free agent who would need to agree to a sign-and-trade, and as well as he played in the playoffs, he's not Mikal Bridges.
If Atlanta were to make Young available, the Lakers would simply have no chance to win a bidding war for him. Young has little leverage to force a specific destination as he has four guaranteed seasons left on his contract. With the sort of assets realistically at their disposal, the Lakers cannot acquire Young.
There's a caveat here, and it's the only possible path to legitimacy these rumors have. The Lakers almost certainly could trade for Young... if they offered Anthony Davis. Such a deal would make plenty of sense for Atlanta. The Hawks have Dejounte Murray in-place already to serve as a full-time primary ball-handler. Swapping Young, arguably the worst defender in the NBA, for Davis, arguably the best, could turn the Hawks into a defensive juggernaut. They might even send the Lakers another big, like John Collins or Clint Capela, to try to complete the deal.
But sadly for Atlanta, Davis doesn't seem like an especially realistic return for Young either. There are a few reasons for that:
- Davis can become a free agent in 2024, and could therefore effectively squash any trade thanks to the leverage he gains as an upcoming free agent.
- Davis has given no indication that he is interested in leaving Los Angeles. He forced his way there for a reason.
- Davis, right now, is likely the superior player to Young. Though their skill sets are almost exact opposites, it's worth noting that Davis synergizes with James' almost perfectly. While James would love to have another high-end ball-handler like Young on his team, it would be much more of a "your turn, my turn" sort of arrangement.
- If the Lakers are willing to trade Davis for Young, they likely would have considered moving him for superior players that have come on the market recently. Yet there was no reporting suggesting that the Lakers were interested in trading Davis for players like Durant, Mitchell or Lillard. For obvious reasons, the Lakers seem intent on adding a third star, not swapping out their second.
There is one scenario in which a Davis-for-Young swap might make sense, but it's an unlikely one. If James were to retire this offseason, the Lakers might like to pivot into a rebuild. In that scenario, swapping the 30-year-old Davis for the 24-year-old Young might give them a longer runway, and if James is gone, Davis might prefer to find a new home anyway.
There is no reporting to this effect at this point, and there likely never will be. We are now nine layers deep into the rabbit hole and essentially engaging in reckless speculation. Once "Davis for Young" is on the table, almost any other trade involving any other players becomes theoretically possible as well.
It's simpler to conclude that the Young rumors wind up the way that the Mitchell, Paul, Durant, Lillard or Beal rumors did: with the star in question playing for a team besides the Lakers. It makes sense for the Lakers to do their due diligence, of course. On the off-chance they can acquire Young for a sensible price, they absolutely should. But they are far likelier to pursue players that are older, cheaper and less talented than Young this offseason simply because almost every player in the league falls within one of those categories and is therefore more easily attainable.
