ESPN report: Lakers planning to pursue third star, Atlanta Hawks guard Star ‘realistic’ option

The Lakers will have a lot of decisions to make this summer and it seems Trae Young to the Lakers will continue to be a topic of discussion.

If you thought the Lakers were done third-star chasing, think again.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic recently discussed this on a live stream and he was emphatic that the Lakers were not only going to star hunt in the summer but that Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young was the most realistic option.

They are going third star hunting this off-season and we’ll see how that affects the DLO situation. You probably have to give up Austin in almost any third-star trade. Now who’s available? The one name I continually hear is Trae Young. He’s been to Laker playoff games before, he’s a Clutch Sports client. That’s probably the most realistic one right now… Now, of course, whether they get him is going to come down to whether they are willing to put all three picks, two picks in a deal. Is it Austin and Max? Is it just Austin? And you got to have the matching salary of course. Is that Rui, is that Vando? Do they send DLO there as well? There’s a lot of different ways that can play out, but my understanding is yes, they are going third-star hunting.

This isn’t a shocker to fans who have stayed locked in on what’s happening with the Lakers this season. After the trade deadline came and went and the Lakers didn’t make a move, the team vice president of basketball operations, Rob Pelinka, spoke about ‘making a much bigger and impactful movement potentially in June and July.’

Using their available draft picks to trade for Trae would certainly qualify as a big move and give the Lakers another bonafide star.

The Lakers have reportedly been in talks with the Hawks for their other guard, Dejounte Murray, but those conversations never bared fruit, so this is far from a done deal.

Still, where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and Young is a Klutch client, which is the agency run by LeBron James’ dear friend Rich Paul and also the agency both Bron and Anthony Davis are associated with.

With the Hawks seemingly far from being contenders and the connection his agency already has with the Lakers, perhaps the star guard will be looking for a change of scenery next season.

Players the Lakers should package and Atlanta’s willingness to deal will all be topics of conversation this summer, but this is a situation to keep an eye on as the season comes to a close.

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Lakers’ Gabe Vincent gets major injury update ahead of Nets clash

The Lakers upgraded Gabe Vincent (knee) to questionable for Sunday’s game in Brooklyn.

Gabe Vincent is listed, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, as questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday at the Barclays Center.

Vincent has appeared in five games for the Lakers this season. He suffered a bone bruise after four games in October, then gave it a go on Dec. 20. His left knee swelled up after that game and he underwent surgery one week later.

“I really don’t even want to get into it too much, don’t want to put too much pressure on him,” LeBron said after the Lakers’ 109-90 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. “When he’s ready to go, it will be a bonus for our team. But he’s been out for quite a while. So whenever he’s ready, we’ll welcome him with open arms as a brother of ours, teammate of ours.”

Vincent, 27, has missed the last 46 games.

“We’ve been waiting on him, but at the end of the day, we put no pressure on him,” added LeBron. “Just take his time.”

In his five appearances for the Lakers, the ex-UCSB Gaucho averaged 5.4 points and 3.0 assists in 25.4 minutes — including closing minutes.

In the two prior seasons, Vincent put up 9.1 points on 35.1% 3-point shooting for the Miami Heat. He played his best basketball as a starting guard en route to the 2023 NBA Finals, averaging 12.7 points, 3.5 assists, shooting 37.8% from 3, and providing key point-of-attack defense across 22 games.

“Right now we’re just taking things one day at a time,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said pregame in Indiana. “He’s increased his workload. So we’re in the process of trying to see how his body responds to that workload. And that’s as far as it goes for now.”

Vincent would presumably take minutes from Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Reddish and Max Christie, depending on the pace of his acclimation process.

After Sunday’s clash, the Lakers visit the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday and the Washington Wizards on Thursday before returning to Los Angeles.

The Lakers signed Vincent to a 3-year, $33 million contract last summer — essentially opting for his Finals pedigree and 3-point shooting over the tenacity of Dennis Schroder (a favorite of Ham who wanted to say in Los Angeles). Schroder got similar money from the Raptors, who have since traded him to Brooklyn, adding a potentially fun wrinkle to Suday’s matinee at the Barclays Center.

Elsewhere on the Lakers’ injury front, Jarred Vanderbilt is reportedly expected to return from a foot sprain in April. LeBron is managing daily ankle soreness. Anthony Davis is dealing with a hyperextended knee.

“It’ll get better in a couple days,” Davis said after playing 38 minutes against the Pacers on Friday. “Nothing serious. That’s why I played tonight. Feel like I can play through it. It’s nothing that I plan to miss any more games for or have to be on a minute restriction or thing of that nature.”

The Lakers (41-33) sit as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference — 1.5 games in between the Phoenix Suns (43-31) and the Golden State Warriors (39-34).