Lakers big move: The much-anticipated Pacers trade
After seeing how the first half of the season played out, the Lakers should have made the trade in the offseason for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner for the two future first-round picks and Russell Westbrook. If they would have pulled the trigger on that they would easily be in playoff position.
Both Hield and Turner have played great this season and they fill major needs for the Lakers on both sides of the court. To his credit, Westbrook has played well off the bench this season, but he has been a clunky fit ever since arriving in Los Angeles. Buddy would instantly be the Lakers’ biggest threat scoring from the outside and Miles Turner would fill in well as rim protector while AD is on the mend and can stretch the floor as well.
One potential hurdle to this deal is that Westbrook does not really make sense with the Pacers’ plans either, considering Tyrese Haliburton is having a career year distributing the basketball and that is what he does best. They would mainly make this move to get two very valuable picks that could put their team in the championship conversation far down the road.
Then they could ship Westbrook off to the highest bidder that thinks they could potentially rehabilitate the rest of his career. Imagine Westbrook on a team like the Bucks for instance who could use a spark of energy off the bench to reignite their championship ways and Indiana could add some draft capital.
The Pacers are less likely to make this trade now because they have a good chance of making the playoffs this season and this trade would basically be punting on any chance of that, so the Lakers may have missed their chance.
The Athletic proposes unhinged Lakers-Bulls trade for LeBron James
LeBron James could try and demand a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers over the summer. If so, the team must avoid making this proposed Bulls trade.
However, Indiana does have a promising young talented group of rookies and a budding Haliburton, so a play for the future might not be a bad idea.