The latest report from well-known NBA reporter Shams Sharania said that the Hawks management will reconsider the trade package offered by the Lakers before the trade deadline, put Trae Young on the negotiating table, and are willing to trade Trae Young to the Lakers.
James has been pushing for a trade to bring in Trae Young, and a similar script played out in the summer of 2021, when James and Davis forced the Lakers to trade with the Wizards. The Lakers do need to trade All-Star players and have the chips to complete this plan, but the trade target should never be Trae Young, whom James has named.
Sharania revealed that the Lakers are willing to send 2024, 2028 and 2030 first-round picks, as well as Hachimura and Russell in exchange for Trae Young. Before the trade deadline, the Hawks rejected the offer, and with the play-off loss to the Bulls ending the season early, Hawks management is willing to reconsider accepting the Lakers' trade proposal for Trae Young, waiting for the Lakers' post-season further discussions and a deal.
The Hawks lost to the Bulls in the 36-46 play-in game, and Trae Young finished with 22 points and 10 assists on 4-of-12 shooting, with the main points coming from the free throws. No matter how good Trae Young is, Lakers management needs to turn down the deal, and basketball is not a sport that can be won by stacking stars, it needs five right people to work together to create good chemistry. In this regard, this Lakers roster is undoubtedly a good fit to play together, and forcibly breaking up the roster and replacing Trae Young will only repeat the mistakes of the past.
What would happen if James re-signed to stay with the Lakers and bring in Trae Young to form the Big Three? According to the most optimistic estimates, even if James maintains his attendance rate of 71 games this season next season and continues to average 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game, the Lakers will not be better off by replacing the ball with Trae Young.
Trae Young needs a lot of possession, averaging 18.7 shots per game this season and even higher than James' 17.9, and the Lakers can't afford Trae Young to have a lot of possession and shots. Trae Young's situation is similar to that before Wei Shao teamed up with James, Wei Shao took 22.5 and 19 shots respectively in the Rockets and the Wizards, and the number of shots decreased after the trade to the Lakers, and the ball control was also in James' hands, Vogel and Ham couldn't make Wei Shao have chemistry with James, and Pelinka could only stop losses in time and sell Wei Shao's contract in exchange for Russell.
Trae Young's ability to lead the team to win has also been questioned. Trae Young has played in 54 games this season, with the Hawks only 22-32, a 40.74 percent winning rate, and a career 183-224 in 407 games with the Hawks, a 44.96 percent winning rate. When Trae Young misses a game, the Hawks are guaranteed at least a 50% win rate. It would be more accurate to define Trae Young as a weak team statistic, and it's hard to expect him to play better games next to James and Davis, and the actual results are likely to be lower than Russell's.
Russell averaged 18 points, 6.3 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 32.7 minutes per game in 76 games this season, shooting 45.6% from the field, 41.5% from three-point range and 3 of 7.2 attempts per game. After two seasons of running-in, Russell has basically found a way to play with James, interacting well with each other on the court, and there is no longer a need for running-in. It can be expected that Trae Young, who does not have the ball in his hands, will only be the Wei Shao next to James.
What's more, Trae Young's defense is even worse, Russell's defense reaches the passing line, and his height of 1.93 meters is 10 centimeters taller than Trae Young, and the confrontation is also better than Trae Young. Trae Young's one-on-one man-to-man defense, pick-and-roll defense, and off-ball running are all below the league average, and one of the reasons for the Hawks' poor record is that they don't have an effective defensive system to cover up Trae Young's defensive hole. Trae Young and James will play at the same time, and there will be two defensive weaknesses in the starting lineup that will be named by opponents.
The last reason is that Trae Young has three years and $140 million left on his contract, and the average salary for the next three seasons will reach $46.66 million, which is a huge salary burden for the Lakers. Davis just signed a three-year, $187 million extension, James is also expected to extend his contract for three years and $160 million, and with Trae Young's contract, the Lakers will face a huge luxury tax of $100 million per season.