Just five days from now, the 2024 NBA Draft will commence. On that day, the Los Angeles Lakers may make their first real attempt to upgrade a roster that is playoff-caliber but not championship-caliber right now.
In terms of assets aside from superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, they have two legitimate starter-level players in D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, two borderline starters or sixth-man-level players in Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt and a potential bench contributor in Gabe Vincent.
The Lakers will also be able to offer up to three first-round draft picks on draft day in order to secure a third star or difference-maker.
One star who has been linked to them is the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young. Shortly after Los Angeles officially hired JJ Redick to be its head coach on Thursday, Young posted an emoji of an hourglass on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.
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— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) June 20, 2024
Fans seem divided on whether Young would be the man for the Lakers to pursue.
On one hand, he is a legitimate big-time scoring threat who averaged 10.8 assists a game this season and is relatively quick in the open court. At the same time, he is a high-usage, low-efficiency player who has a career average of 4.2 turnovers a game.
Young also struggles on the defensive end, partly due to his modest stature at 6-foot-1 and 164 pounds.
Whether he would be the right man or not for the Lakers to go after, his price tag is likely going to be very hefty, especially since he will be owed $43 million next season.