The Los Angeles Lakers have been trying all summer to land good players in exchange for Russell Westbrook. But the organization ended up starting the 2022-23 NBA season with Russ on the roster. For the first few games, it didn’t work well for the 17-time NBA champions. As a result, coach Darvin Ham decided to make Russ come off the bench.
It made a huge difference for the franchise as they won their first game of the season behind a strong performance from Westbrook off the bench. Despite that, there are many rumors about the Lakers potentially trading for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
The two players were strongly linked to the Purple and Gold throughout the offseason, but a trade could never be finalized. Myles Turner recently appeared on a podcast with NBA analyst Adrian Wojnarowski where he talked about why the Lakers should trade for him.
Myles Turner On Potentially Playing In LA
During the podcast, the 26-year-old also talked about the difference between playing for the Pacers and potentially playing in Los Angeles.
Via SB Nation:
“Yes, [it’s appealing]. Just playing in the bigger market, I just feel like here in the Midwest we don’t get the love that I think we deserve. It doesn’t get taken on the national level. You are under the microscope out there at the West, when you are doing bad you going to hear about it. When you are doing great you are going to get a lot of love, especially with the love that Lakers get. I think that another aspect that is playing with greatness and playing under LeBron, I feel like he demands certain level of excellency especially at this point of his career. It’s just one of those things, when you are out there, you gotta perform. People are going expect you to go out there and hold on to that legacy that Lakers have built over the years.”
It seems pretty evident that Turner is excited about a future move to the Lakers. But the organization may wait for a couple of more weeks before making a decision about trading for him and Buddy Hield.
As we mentioned earlier, the Lakers are currently trying to fit Westbrook in a bench role. If the former NBA MVP succeeds in adjusting to it, he may play the rest of the season in a similar role and avoid getting traded.
