NBA rumors: Lakers eyeing Trae Young, Zach LaVine trade market, referee bias data

NBA Rumors: Lakers eyeing Hawks' Trae Young as potential trade target

The Los Angeles Lakers tend to take big swings as an organization. They can afford to with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster, not to mention decades of history and prestige on their side. NBA stars want to play for the Lakers, the team Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson played for. The team with 17 championship banners hanging in the rafters.

Los Angeles' recent star pursuits have been focused on the point guard position. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, and Kyrie Irving have all been targeted by the Lakers' front office. Some members of the organization — LeBron included — even supported the idea of pursuing Irving this summer, before the guard re-signed with Dallas.

One player who has "long been on Los Angeles' radar," per Buha, is Atlanta Hawks All-Star Trae Young. The Lakers continue to monitor his situation in Atlanta. The Hawks went 41-41 last season, which ended in a first-round playoff exit. Young led Atlanta to the conference finals in 2021, but the front office quite intentionally made the team younger over the summer. Clint Capela, one of the few remaining vets on the roster and Young's favorite lob target, is heavily involved in trade rumors.

Young is only 24 years old but he is past the point of captaining a rebuild. If the Hawks want to properly retool, it would probably come at Young's expense. The Oklahoma product's reputation has tanked slightly in recent years, but he's still a top-shelf offensive engine. Last season, he averaged 26.2 points and 10.2 assists on .429/.335/.886 splits. That's superstar stuff.

If the Hawks' situation does boil over to the point of a Trae Young trade request, expect the Lakers to be one of several teams interested in his services. Young is a generational playmaking talent with game-breaking range on his jumper. He would help a lot of teams take the next step.