Trae Young Trade Rumors: Lakers, Spurs Haven't Shown Strong Interest in Hawks Star
July 5, 2024
Two of the top Trae Young trade suitors reportedly have yet to intensify their pursuits of the Atlanta Hawks point guard.
According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers haven't expressed much interest in the three-time All-Star point guard to this point in the offseason.
The Lakers have been connected to Young for months, even though they don't appear to have ever seriously engaged Atlanta in talks.
B/R's Eric Pincus reported in April the Lakers would likely have serious interest in Young if the Hawks decided to make him available.
There were some expectations that the Lakers were going to be aggressive this offseason. As things currently stand, they are essentially running it back with the same team they had at the end of last season—with JJ Redick replacing Darvin Ham as head coach.
Los Angeles reportedly made a strong push to sign Klay Thompson before he agreed to a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers were able to sign LeBron James to a two-year, $104 million contract to keep him, but the only other free-agent deal they've done so far was to retain restricted free agent Max Christie for $32 million over four years.
Lowe did note the Lakers' interest in Young could change if Atlanta's asking price comes down.
The Hawks would almost certainly love if they could get the Spurs engaged in talks because they still owe San Antonio unprotected first-round draft picks in 2025 and 2027 plus a pick swap in 2026 stemming from the original Murray trade in June 2022.
A similar scenario involving a trade between the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets provided a template the Hawks could conceivably follow. The Nets reacquired their first-round picks in 2025 and 2026 from the Rockets that were originally dealt away in the James Harden trade.
While that scenario sounds great if the Hawks could make it happen, it's hard to see the Spurs biting on that type of deal after Atlanta just earned the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft and hasn't made itself appreciably better going into next season.
Granted, the Hawks were far from the worst team in the league last season. They finished 36-46 and made the play-in tournament before losing to the Chicago Bulls. But if they take a step back in 2024-25 without Murray, they could be among the worst teams and have favorable lottery odds in a draft that looks very strong at the top.
The Spurs certainly want to make strides next season after Victor Wembanyama had one of the best rookie campaigns in NBA history, but they seem content to make incremental upgrades rather than try an all-in move right now. They agreed to a one-year deal with Chris Paul in free agency to solidify the point guard position for 2024-25.
Young is owed $89 million over the next two seasons and has a $48.97 million player option for 2026-27. He averaged 25.7 points on 37.3 percent three-point shooting and 10.8 assists per game in 54 starts last season.