3 non-Russell Westbrook trades to beef up the Lakers roster
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a woeful start this season and things may start to snowball out of control if Rob Pelinka and the front office don’t take a firm grip on the team. Before we know it, the front office could wave the white flag on the season, giving Lakers fans yet another disappointing season.
Darvin Ham’s latest comments about the Lakers’ inability to add help this season do not bode well for any kind of change. That being said, there absolutely is a path for the team to improve the roster via trade without taking on too much money in return.
Those trades do not even have to include Russell Westbrook, who has been playing well since moving to the bench. With the status of the team, Los Angeles may not have any motivation to actually move Westbrook this season.
Here are 3 trades to beef up the Lakers roster that don’t include Russell Westbrook:
1. Getting Myles Turner without Westbrook being involved
The most talked about Westbrook trade was a swap that would see Myles Turner and Buddy Hield come to Los Angeles. As prolific as a shooter that Hield is, the team could pull off a deal for just one of the players without needing to include Westbrook.
Turner seems like the more logical of the two because of what he offers the team. While not as prolific of a shooter as Hield, he is great for floor spacing as a big and is even better on the defensive end as one of the best rim-protecting bigs in the sport.
This trade would help maximize Anthony Davis as well as it allows AD to essentially play center on offense and power forward on defense, which is pretty much what his game is tailored to already. Beverley and Nunn are expiring contracts without much value, so draft capital will have to be involved.
Indiana isn’t getting an unprotected first from anyone for Turner so here, they get a pick swap in 2028 with the Lakers. Since LA would still have a first-round pick in 2028 by doing a swap, they could potentially trade either their 2027 or 2029 pick in the future if need be.