The Lakers are reportedly considering a move for Hawks star Trae Young this offseason, adding him as a third top player to join LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic on Tuesday, the franchise has had “internal discussions” about what a “hypothetical trade offer” for Young could look like.
The Lakers season ended on Monday night, as they were swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals after suffering a tough 113-111 season-ending loss in Game 4.
Denver is heading to its first NBA Finals in franchise history to face either Miami or Boston.
The Lakers had to advance out of the play-in tournament to reach the first round of the 2022-2023 playoffs, as both LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed valuable court time throughout the regular season.
Though the Lakers trade additions of D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura helped James and Davis make a run to the Western Conference Finals, it wasn’t enough.
Young and Kyrie Irving were sitting courtside at Crypto Arena in Game 6 for the second time this postseason.
Before this past season’s Feb. 9 trade deadline, James pushed the Lakers to acquire Irving as the team’s third star.
The former Nets star ended up pairing up with Luka Doncic in Dallas, which did not qualify for the playoffs.
As for the 24-year-old Young, he has established himself as a top guard in the league and would alleviate some of the ball handling from the 38-year-old veteran James, if the Lakers could find a way to obtain him.
Young was the fifth overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft and has since been named a two-time All Star, 2018-2019 All-Rookie, and 2021-2022 All NBA in his five-year professional career.
Each of the past three seasons with Young as the leading point guard, the Hawks have made the playoffs.
But this season the Hawks were ousted in the first round, fall to the Celtics in six games despite Young boasting a 29.2 point average per game in the series to go along with 10.2 assists.
Young has averaged 25.5 points in his career to go along with 9.3 assists per game with a .351 three-point shooting percentage.
He is currently on a five-year contract, getting $215,159,700 guaranteed with Atlanta, along with an annual average salary of $43,031,940, according to Spotrac.
The Lakers may find themselves in a rebuilding situation, as James suggested retirement in an interview with ESPN, saying he is thinking about “if I want to continue to play” next year.
“I got to think about it,” James replied when asked if he would walk away from the game all together.
The 19-time All Star and four-time NBA champion turns 39 in December and has one season remaining on his contract with L.A. worth $46.7 million for 2023-24 along with and a player option for the following season worth $50.4 million.