The No. 1 goal for the Los Angeles Lakers right now is continue the team's strong play to be in a position where the Play-In Tournament is not needed to make the NBA Playoffs. Once the Lakers get there, they have a chance to beat any team in the league as long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy.
While that is the goal right now, the front office is still working hard behind the scenes to plan the future of the team. There are no more big moves the Lakers can make this season, so when it comes to play movement, the Lakers have no choice but to look toward the future.
Unfortunately, the Lakers looking toward the future might end in the team making a bad move. Rumors are already circling that the team may target Atlanta's Trae Young in a trade, which would be a blockbuster that would almost certainly come back to bite.
The Lakers need someone to save them from themselves and thankfully, it looks like another Western Conference foe might be doing just that. In his latest NBA intel drop, insider Marc Stein revealed that the San Antonio Spurs are also interested in trading for the all-star guard.
Spurs may save Lakers from making Trae Young trade mistake
If the Spurs are truly interested in Young and are willing to make a big trade for him then there won't be much competition from the Lakers. San Antonio has far more assets to trade to Atlanta than the Lakers do and can reasonably outbid LA at every turn.
All of this is a good thing, though. While Young is a big-name player who has had some great moments in this league, he is not someone who the Lakers should be interested in trading for. Young does not play a winning style of basketball as his high usage rate and awful defending do not bode well in the team setting.
There is a reason why the Hawks have mostly underperformed with Young as the top guy. There would be a reason why the Hawks would be willing to trade Young this winter. They are not good reasons and ultimately should scare the Lakers away.
But still, Los Angeles is interested now and will likely be interested over the summer. Thankfully, there is another team that is also in the mix that can save the Lakers from themselves. Now we all just have to hope that the Spurs aren't also interested in Donovan Mitchell.