The 3rd superstar hunt remains wide open for the LA Lakers. Until this point, it seemed as if the LA side had moved away from their pursuit to rope in Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young. Several insiders highlighted the risks pertaining to ‘depth’ in making roster space for another star. Despite that, Rob Pelinka, in an attempt to strengthen JJ Redick’s cause, jumped right into the hot pursuit to nab Trae.

According to Jake L Fischer of Yahoo Sports, alongside the Lakers, the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans seem to be the “appealing potential trade destination” for Young. And, the Hawks front office is also expected to engage with the teams in the coming days. That raises the question- what was some of the previous advice given?

Following the embarrassing exit from the 2024 playoffs, the Lakers showed their interest in hiring a 3rd superstar to support LeBron James and Anthony Davis. In that same breath, Young and Donovan Mitchell came as the frontline options. However, the whole trade topic went under the mud amid the Lakers coaching vacancy drama. Moreover, experts like Jovan Buha highlighted the drawbacks of the trade. “You get your third star… it costs you all of your key role players around LeBron and it decimates your depth.”

He further explained, “As we’ve seen through the playoffs, you need a solid seven to eight-man rotation. I think the Lakers would be a player or two or maybe even three short. So I don’t see the Lakers doing this.” Despite the “tricky” situation that the Lakers can put themselves in, Pelinka seemed to take a huge gamble. And it could be the after-effect of the JJ Redick hire. The 40-year-old coach has a lot of mouths to shut and winning a ring is the only way out, isn’t it?

Do the Lakers really need a third superstar?

Given the risks involved in hiring a third superstar, the team really doesn’t need one. While they already have a fairly inexperienced roster, losing a few role players for Trae Young could cause a huge dent. Notably, the team may have to let go of Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and several future picks. And the team will come short of three to four players by the end of the trade.

However, on the other hand, JJ Redick himself hinted at building a third superstar within the Lakers’ fold. And it’s none other than Austin Reaves. The Hillbilly Kobe’s agent Aaron Reilly revealed Redick’s plans for Reaves in his X post. Commenting on a video compilation of Reaves’ interaction with Redick on his podcast, Reilly wrote, “His coach is about to show a different part of Austin’s game none have you seen. Kept receipts on all that third superstar bullsh*t.” 

And, to further spice things up, Reaves also opened up about his recent chat with Redick and said, “Just can’t wait to put our brains together and have a good year.” While the latest reports reveal the Lakers’ attempt to trade Young, another says a different story. So, it’s up to the fans and what they want to believe. In the end, they’ll have to wait for the official update. Until then, good luck predicting!

Before you go, do not forget to check out Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, to open up about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud. Keep checking this space for more such updates.