The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a rough 1-5 start to the season and while the team actually looked pretty good with Russell Westbrook coming off the bench on Sunday night, this team still needs a facelift if it is going to have any shot at making the playoffs.
That facelift is a potential Westbrook trade. Westbrook’s fit on this team has never been good and if the Lakers can spin him and his salary for players who can actually produce then it would be a huge win.
However, because of Westbrook’s massive salary and the fact that he is not the same player that he once was, it is going to cost the Lakers assets to move him. Los Angeles will likely have to part ways with both its 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, making it imperative that the team makes a trade that actually makes sense.
For many, that trade has been a swap for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. This has been the most talked-about potential Westbrook trade dating back to the summer and still seems like the most likely deal to be made.
Making it seem even more likely is Turner himself petitioning for the Lakers to make a deal. In an appearance on The Woj Pod, Turner made his case for the Lakers pulling off a trade with the Indiana Pacers.
Should the Lakers give up the two picks? Full audio of Pacers center Myles Turner on The Woj Pod: https://t.co/yP00bwvnMZ pic.twitter.com/GZvSg9BLyp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2022
This is a pretty professional answer from Turner that makes it quite clear that he knows his value and knows that what he brings to the table would add a new dynamic to the Lakers, especially with more pieces potentially attached.
There are two ways the Lakers could trade for Myles Turner.
The first path is to obviously just make a deal for both Buddy Hield and Turner, which is not a bad shout. While Hield has flaws in his game one flaw that he does not have is three-point shooting, which is the Lakers’ biggest weakness.
With Los Angeles being a top-five defensive team early on in the season, it makes more sense for them to buy into a three-point shooter as prolific as Hield knowing that they can make up any potential defensive holes either with coaching or other players.
The other potential option for the Lakers can happen if Indiana is willing to trade Turner for just one of the two first-round picks. Los Angeles could trade Westbrook and a first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson, adding two shooters (and a decent wing defender) instead of one.
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This would create a trade exception large enough to do a separate trade for just Turner. Los Angeles can trade a first-round pick to Indiana for Turner, essentially giving the team a return of Turner, Richardson and McDermott.