{"id":110968,"date":"2024-12-07T08:30:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T13:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=110968"},"modified":"2024-12-07T07:24:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T12:24:50","slug":"trae-young-lakers-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/07\/trae-young-lakers-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Trae Young Shows Lakers What They Are Missing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trae Young<\/a> to the Lakers has been a rumor for quite some time now. There was significant chatter about whether this trade might happen during the summer. Now, about a quarter of the way into the season, Trae Young gave the Lakers a first-hand experience of what they are missing. The thrilling showdown between the Hawks and Lakers finished with a game-winner by Trae. With the direction the teams are moving this season, Trae Young to the Lakers trade rumors might resurface as we move closer to the deadline.<\/p>\n

Trae Young Shows Lakers What They Are Missing<\/h2>\n

Friday night against the Lakers, Young scored 31 points and dished 20 assists, plus he hit the game-winner in overtime. LeBron James<\/a> had 39 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists while Anthony Davis<\/a> chipped in with 38 points and 10 rebounds. Now imagine if all three of them were on the same team.<\/p>\n

If this trade were to go through, it could redefine the Western Conference landscape. The Lakers might become a championship-contending team<\/a> again. As it stands now, they are far from it with their current roster. For the Hawks, this trade is all about getting future draft picks and giving time to their young players to develop. As of December 7th, the Hawks are in playoff contention<\/a> in the East. But there are better teams than them, including the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, and New York Knicks. Their young core might develop just in time as those teams are aging out.<\/p>\n

Trae Young to the Lakers Might Resurface<\/h3>\n

With every new loss, the Lakers fanbase are more and more desperate to make a move. Their fans are not used to losing, and with LeBron playing well in his 22nd season, the time is now to make a move. Per latest reports<\/a>, the Lakers internally know they need to make two moves, one of which is for a guard.<\/p>\n

The challenge for the Lakers is they are an apron team, and as such, cannot receive more salary back. Making the salaries work is difficult when you have Trae Young making $43 million.<\/p>\n

Three weeks ago<\/a>, Bill Simmons floated the idea of the Lakers being the only team that makes sense for Young. But his proposed trade idea didn\u2019t work salary-wise. We also have to look at the trade from the Hawks\u2019 perspective. Why would they want players like D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/a>, Rui Hachimura<\/a>, and Gabe Vincent<\/a>? Of course, should the Lakers include both of their tradable first round picks, in 2029 and 2031, the Hawks might listen.<\/p>\n

Another challenge for the Lakers would be pairing Young with Austin Reaves<\/a>. The Lakers already have a similar backcourt duo that doesn\u2019t defend. Young has never been known as a plus defender. Simply put, the Trae Young to the Lakers trade might sound fun for fans, but in reality, it doesn\u2019t help the Lakers as much as it would seem.<\/p>\n

The Hawks Have to Make a Decision<\/h3>\n

Trae Young is having a great season, and he is on a pace to average the highest assist<\/a> number since 1993-94. His value<\/a> might not be higher in the upcoming years, given his contract situation and declining efficiency. While his assists are up this season, his scoring is down. He is shooting just 38.2% from the field and 31.1% from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Hawks have three young stars that they can build around in the future. Dyson Daniels<\/a> is 21 and has an All-Star potential<\/a>, while Jalen Johnson<\/a> is about to turn 23 and is the second-leading scorer on the Hawks behind Trae. The Hawks drafted Zaccharie Risacher<\/a> this year, and he is only 19 years old.<\/p>\n

While the Lakers package might not look like the most attractive option, it is still an option. The Hawks might wait for other teams to pitch in, but there are not many obvious suitors. Making a bold decision now might set the stage for a brighter future for the franchise.<\/p>\n

Trae is only 26 years old but can become a free agent in the summer of 2026. He has a player option for the 2026-27 season, and the Hawks certainly do not want to lose him for nothing. Trading him now, while he still has years on his contract might be the best route to go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trae Young to the Lakers has been a rumor for quite some time now. There was significant chatter about whether this trade might happen during the summer. Now, about a quarter of the way into the season, Trae Young gave the Lakers a first-hand experience of what they are missing. The thrilling showdown between the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":110992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,26,62,4721],"tags":[240,4556,307,38,1749,1349],"class_list":["post-110968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-lakers","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-anthony-davis","tag-austin-reaves","tag-dangelo-russell","tag-lebron-james","tag-rui-hachimura","tag-trae-young"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110968"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110993,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110968\/revisions\/110993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}