“New” Lakers trade rumors with Pacers is nothing to be excited about
By Jason Reed
Trade rumors surrounded the Los Angeles Lakers all offseason as the team was seemingly gearing up to trade Russell Westbrook and future first-round picks to get him off the roster. However, nothing ended up happening and now Westbrook is going to start the 2022-23 season with LA.
That has not stopped the Lakers rumor mill from churning before preseason action gets underway, even though it seems like it is churning in place.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on ‘The Lowe Post’ podcast that his intel suggests that if the Lakers were to offer both the 2027 and 2029 first-round picks to the Indiana Pacers that they would trade Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. Lakers fans have run with this report as something new, potentially signaling a Russell Westbrook trade.
These Lakers trade rumors are nothing new and are nothing to be excited about.
We hate to be the bearer of bad news here at Lake Show Life but we always want to ensure that our audience knows the entire situation. While this seems like some new info that is worth getting excited over, it really isn’t anything that changes the situation.
This has been the case for the last several weeks and has been alluded to before. The entire reason why the Lakers and Pacers have not made this deal is that Los Angeles seemingly does not think this package elevates them to be a true contender and thus does not want to trade two first-round picks.
Instead, LA would rather roll the dice with Westbrook to start the season knowing that they are so guard-heavy that they can tell him to go home and not play if it is getting really bad. Then, the team can survey the market and see if there is a new trade that emerges from a bottoming team, or perhaps a lower price to move Westbrook.
It is a risky move as the Lakers are risking falling into a rut to start the season or potentially losing the best package they will ever get. But at the same time, if no other team shows any interest in Hield or Turner, LA might be able to do the same trade at the deadline for one pick.
Regardless, this has been the reality of the situation for quite some time now and Lakers fans should not be getting excited with the hopes that something will happen following Lowe’s comments.