What Hawks Are Demanding From Lakers, Spurs For Trae Young

After a week of NBA offseason action, Trae Young is the last remaining big name star currently on the trade block.

Yes, Lauri Markkanen is still out there. And yes, the Los Angeles Lakers’ best offer for him is a matter of public record. But given how it stacks up to the Golden State Warriors’ best offer, and in light of how disinterested the Utah Jazz appear in either one, it is hard to see the 27-year-old getting moved.

Young, meanwhile, is definitely available. It is just a matter of finding the right deal.

Thus far the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs are the two teams most closely linked to Young. L.A.’s offer to the Hawks for him, specifically, leaked some weeks back.

This week some clarity emerged on what precisely it would cost both the Lakers and Spurs if they want to nab Young.

The Hawks’ demands for both the Spurs and Lakers seem roughly similar: significant draft capital.

“Young is potent enough to keep the Hawks around .500, and they don’t have much incentive to tank so long as the Spurs control their first-round picks through 2027 thanks to the original [Dejounte] Murray trade,” Zach Lowe of ESPN wrote this week.

“The smoothest way to reclaim those picks is trading Young to the Spurs, but San Antonio has not shown much recent interest in that, sources said. The Spurs understand the potential value of those picks, and they (for now) appear to favor holding them hostage over swapping them back to Atlanta.

“The Lakers, too, have shown little recent interest in Young, sources said. That could change if the price drops to L.A.’s liking. But the market for Young is as chilly as it has ever been.”

For now, nobody is pulling the trigger on a deal for Young. But options are dwindling by the time. And at some point, a team like the Lakers might become desperate.

Where will Young ultimately be playing when the 2024-25 NBA season finally tips off? Time will tell.

Anthony Amador

A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school Games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.