Lakers Shouldn't Target Trae Young Despite NBA Trade Rumors, LeBron Retirement Buzz

After being swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers must now look ahead to their reloading efforts for the 2023-24 season. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they may have to reload more than previously believed.

Though superstar LeBron James is under contract for another season, the future Hall of Famer admitted after Monday night's loss that he isn't 100 percent committed to returning for another year.

"We’ll see what happens going forward. But I don’t know,” James told reporters. “I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest. I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest, just for me personally going forward with the game of basketball. A lot to think about."

James does have plenty to consider. He'll turn 39 in December, and he's coming off a season that was hampered by a lingering foot injury—and his recovery could bleed into the offseason. He also has to wonder if Los Angeles can put together a roster that can actually challenge teams like Denver for a spot in the Finals.

James also said postgame that he doesn't get a "kick" out of making an appearance in the conference finals.

General manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers brass put together a competitive roster in-season, adding the likes of D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt to partner with James and Anthony Davis. Retaining players like Russell (unrestricted free agent), Hachimura (restricted) and Austin Reaves (restricted) should be among the franchise's top offseason priorities.

If the Lakers hope to build a roster that entices James to return for another year, though, they should also look to reenter the trade market. There will be a sense of urgency to enter the trade market too because of the new collective bargaining agreement.

According to Sam Quinn of CBS Sports, teams "around $17.5 million" above the tax line will face tough restrictions beginning in 2024—including an inability to use the taxpayer mid-level exception or execute trades in which they take back more salary than they give.

As ESPN's Zach Lowe recently noted, this could lead to a lot of trade activity in the coming months. He recently said the following on The Lowe Post podcast (h/t RealGM):

"This is all prelude to I think the next year in the NBA could be an unbelievable period of superstar and star player movement because you've just got a lot of sort of roiling situations. You have one year left before the really harsh trade rules kick into place after the 2023-24 season."

The Lakers are reportedly already eyeing potential trade targets. According to The Athletic's Jovan Buha, Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young is among them.

"The Lakers have had internal discussions about what a hypothetical trade offer for Young could look like this summer, according to multiple league sources not authorized to speak publicly," Buha wrote.

The timing is right for the Lakers to pull off another headline-grabbing deal, but Young is not the right target—unless L.A. is 100 percent sure that James is done.

There's a lot to like about the two-time All-Star, but he's a poor fit for what the Lakers currently need.

Young is a quality volume scorer who averaged 26.2 points this past season and who could help take some of the ball-handling duties away from James. However, he doesn't offer much defensively and isn't a hyper-efficient three-point shooter (33.5 percent this past season).

It wasn't a pure lack of offensive potency that got Los Angeles ousted from the playoffs. It was an inability to contain Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray and provide enough perimeter shooting to complement the inside games of James and Davis.

Having an extra on-ball player to lead the offense was a big part of why the Lakers acquired Russell—a move they viewed as a long-term one.

"I think a deep dive into this, you can almost look at it as 'pre-agency,'" Pelinka said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "We very intentionally planned these moves to provide optionality in July."

While Russell's streaky offensive play was an issue during the playoffs, there's no guarantee that Young would be a massive upgrade. Young averaged 8.7 more points during the regular season than Russell but was actually less efficient from the field (42.9 vs. 46.9) and from three-point range (33.5 vs. 39.6) this past season.

Russell's poor defense was also a postseason problem, but Young wouldn't provide an upgrade there either.

The Lakers already tried to make it work with a volume scorer and defensive liability in Russell Westbrook, and it didn't work. Young is the better player at this point, but there's no reason for Los Angeles to go down that avenue again.

Bringing back Russell and targeting a three-point specialist like Buddy Hield or a defensive big like Deandre Ayton would make much more sense for the current roster and how it stacks up against the conference.

The caveat, of course, is that the current roster may not be back. James could retire, Russell could walk, and Reaves could sign an offer sheet that puts him out of L.A.'s price range. If all of that transpires, however, pairing Young with Davis—who has an early-termination option after next season—and a handful of role players could make the Lakers contenders in the West.

If James is actually done, Reaves and, eventually, Davis, will likely soon follow, and Los Angeles will be left to completely rebuild. And given the likely draft-capital cost of acquiring Young, trading for him would leave L.A. very few pieces with which to do it.

Regardless of James' decision about the 2023-24 season, Young simply isn't the logical choice for the Lakers. But as we saw two offseasons ago when L.A. acquired Westbrook, logic doesn't always drive offseason strategies.