$215 Million Playmaker Cemented On Lakers Trade ‘Radar’

The Los Angeles Lakers were linked to several players in the last few months and experts say they can still trade for a strong playmaker. Will Rob Pelinka ever get Trae Young on his roster?

The front office kept the core intact, but did add a few new players. Jovan Buha from The Athletic discussed Lakers’ interest in young.

“The Lakers have pursued other star guards,” he wrote on August 31. “Trae Young has long been on Los Angeles’ radar, depending on how his situation unfolds in Atlanta.”

The Hawks did their best to stay in the playoff run, but were eliminated in the first round. Experts believe that Young could be on his way out following the disappointing season. The talented player enters the second year of his five-year deal worth $215 million. Fun fact? Young has a $48.9 million early termination option for the 2005-26 season.

“Unfortunately, shipping out John Collins was not nearly enough to get the Hawks out of their salary predicament,” wrote Danny Leroux of The Athletic on August 28. “Expect Hawks GM Landry Fields to have to offload at least one more big-ticket player over the next year-plus.”

Lakers will lose top picks and good players if they agree to trade for the playmaker

The Lakers could really take into consideration the latest trade proposal. They’d get Young, but will have to give up on Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell. The Hawks will get both players, and also a 2026 first-round pick swap, 2029 first-round pick, and 2030 first-round pick swap.

Ice Trae is as shifty as they come 🥶 #BESTofNBA pic.twitter.com/IQppO5izVE

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) August 1, 2023

Young is relatively young and his stats are amazing. He averaged 26.2 points and 10.2 assists last season while shooting 33.5% from deep. Being represented by Klutch Sports could make things easier for him and the Lakers.

Young knows how to fuel these rumors. He and Rich Paul attended Game 6 of the Lakers’ series against the Golden State Warriors and also showed up for Game 4 of the finals against the Denver Nuggets.

Well, Young wouldn’t pay too much attention to this.

Trae Young arriving courtside to Game 6 of Lakers-Warriors with agent Rich Paul pic.twitter.com/w5AB0vwEnR

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) May 13, 2023

“I mean I’ve been to a lot of games before throughout my years,” Young said on the “From The Point by Trae Young” podcast on June 1. “I’ve always been a fan of the game. So I’m always at a lot of games watching. Most of the time I got a friend playing that I’m really there watching.”