Despite what many thought, the Los Angeles Lakers are no longer the front-runners to acquire the services of Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young, a three-time All-Star.

On July 15th’s episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast, co-hosted by ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Kevin Pelton, the hosts talked about the Lakers’ interest in acquiring Young, who is currently playing on a five-year, $215.2 million max contract, from Atlanta.

According to Lowe, Trae Young might be playing for the Lakers right now if they were willing to trade all of their draft choices, including Dalton Knecht and other valuable assets. Nothing has come of those deals. Here we are, after hearing that teams have grown tired of him.

Along with Knecht, whom the Lakers selected with the 17th overall choice in the 2024 NBA draft, Los Angeles has the option to trade unprotected first-round picks in 2029 and 2031. Next season, Young is expected to earn more than $43 million, thus D’Angelo Russell, who has about $19 million left on his contract, would likely need to be included in the deal as salary padding.

On the other hand, the youthful talent that Lowe mentions may include players like Max Christie, to whom the Lakers paid $32 million for a four-year contract this offseason.