After being swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers are at a crossroads. LeBron James teased retirement in his postgame presser, although every New York Knicks fan and NBA fan in general should know he isn’t actually going to want to go out on that note. The 38-year-old still has one year left on his contract before having a player option in 2024-25.
The Lakers won a championship with LeBron and Anthony Davis in 2020, but now, Los Angeles has a desire to add a third star. Kyrie Irving is a player that has been on the Lakers’ radar, and although it was thought LA would trade for him before the deadline, Dallas is the team that made the move. Irving isn’t the only point guard that the Lakers have considered pursuing, though.
According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha (subscription required), Los Angeles has had “internal discussions” about what a trade for Trae Young could look like. Irving is the preferred third star that the Lakers want, but Young’s future is still being monitored.
Lakers reportedly have had trade discussions about Knicks rival Trae Young
Both Trae Young and Kyrie Irving sat courtside at Crypto.com Arena for Game 4 between the Lakers and Nuggets on Monday. It isn’t unusual to see a player whose team has been eliminated from the playoffs, or in Young and Irving’s case, whose team didn’t make the playoffs, catch some postseason action. It does say something, though, that the top two point guards that Los Angeles is expected to pursue in the offseason have each caught a few Lakers playoff games.
Kyrie Irving is back sitting courtside on the baseline opposite the Lakers’ bench. Trae Young is sitting courtside on the baseline near the Lakers bench. They’ve both been to multiple Laker playoff games this postseason.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 23, 2023
Knicks fans know all too well that there is a list of cons that follow Young and Irving. Young solidified himself as the Knicks villain in 2021 when the Hawks ousted the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs, but since then, he’s had a rough go at it. Then there’s Irving, whose time with the Nets was a rollercoaster from start to finish.
Atlanta was expected to be a better team than New York in 2022-23 after acquiring Dejounte Murray from San Antonio, but instead, the Hawks didn’t make it past the play-in. Young finished the season averaging 26.2 points and 10.2 assists, but he shot 33.5% from three, the lowest for him since his rookie season in 2018-19. He missed out on All-Star honors, too.
There’s been speculation about Young’s future given the uncertainty surrounding Atlanta’s organization, so much so that it wouldn’t be a surprise if the 24-year-old were traded this summer. The Knicks are in the market for a big-name star but should stay far away from Young for a multitude of reasons.
It seems more likely that the Lakers will get their Kyrie Irving wish granted this summer given that he’ll be a unrestricted free agent, but he’s so unpredictable that it wouldn’t be surprising if Young winds up donning the purple and gold next season. Young isn’t enough of a threat that Knicks fans should be rooting for him to leave the Eastern Conference, but it would be amusing to see the Lakers take a swing at adding him to their roster.
Surely nothing could go wrong for LA if Rob Pelinka does decide to go after Trae Young, right? Right!
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