Per a recent report, the Los Angeles Lakers could have Kyrie Irving, Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell on their radar this summer as potential trade targets.
“Moving forward, the Lakers plan to use the three picks that they will have available this summer — 2031, 2029 and either 2024 or 2025, depending on which pick the New Orleans Pelicans choose to receive as part of their return for 2019’s Anthony Davis trade — to pursue a star via trade,” Jovan Buha wrote. “Three potential targets are Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young and Kyrie Irving, according to team and league sources. The Athletic has previously reported on the franchise’s interest in Young and Irving.”
As Buha alluded to, the Lakers reportedly plan to pursue a third star this summer.
Irving has experience playing alongside arguably the Lakers’ best player in LeBron James. James and Irving helped lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2016 title. In order to secure the title, the Cavaliers had to come all the way back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals to win the series in seven games.
Since getting traded from the Cavaliers, Irving has bounced around from team to team. He has played for the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks. He is currently in his second season with the Mavericks franchise and averaging 25.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 48.0 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from 3-point range across 30 appearances with the team in the 2023-24 regular season.
As for Young, he has played all six of his NBA seasons with the Atlanta Hawks franchise, who acquired him in a trade the night of the 2018 NBA Draft. Across 46 appearances with the Hawks so far this season, he is averaging 27.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 10.9 assists per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from deep.
He didn’t quite play at the top of his game in Atlanta’s most recent game against the Celtics on Feb. 7. Young finished with 20 points and 10 assists but shot just 8-of-25 from the field.
Finally, Mitchell has been a big reason why the Cavaliers are arguably the hottest team in the NBA right now and riding an eight-game winning streak. In his second season as a Cavalier, the 27-year-old is averaging 28.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. It was recently reported that the Lakers think they could land him in the summer.
Irving, Young and Mitchell all make sense as trade targets for the Lakers this summer, considering they are three of the more dynamic scorers in the NBA today. But whether or not any of those three players will be available via trade is unclear at this point.
