The Los Angeles Lakers recently made a big move for Patrick Beverley, landing the controversial point guard in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson. The 17-time NBA champions are trying to become competitive again two years after winning their most recent championships.
This offseason, they’ve been linked with several moves, including a big one for Kyrie Irving. The point guard decided to re-sign with the Brooklyn Nets, ruining the Lakers’ plans for next season. However, they’re found new targets to acquire this offseason, but the job hasn’t been that easy to complete.
They have been linked with another move to Myles Turner and Buddy Hield of the Indiana Pacers, but things are still developing between the two teams. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Jovan Buha of The Athletic recently discussed this situation, revealing that the Pacers had a big asking price for their duo while also asking the Lakers to get another big contract to complete the trade (8:50):
Scotto: It seems like the best trade the Lakers can make if they want to move Russell Westbrook and try to win this season is with Indiana for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. One note that’s interesting is before the Lakers traded Talen Horton-Tucker to Utah in the Patrick Beverley trade, the Pacers were trying to get Horton-Tucker, I’m told. Essentially, Indiana was hoping to get Westbrook’s expiring contract, the Lakers’ two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029, along with Horton-Tucker for Turner, Hield and they wanted to make LA take Daniel Theis, who has some years looking ahead on his contract. Theis is more of a fit on a playoff-caliber team as we saw with the Celtics previously. The Lakers weren’t trying to essentially part with THT for Theis in that expanded trade package discussion after already having reservations about moving two first-round picks to get off Westbrook’s contract. In talking with people around the league, anybody that’s taking on Westbrook wants both of those first-round picks.
Buha added that the Pacers and Utah Jazz are Westbrook’s most likely landing spots, favoring Utah over Indiana.
Buha: As far as Westbrook’s trade market, I’ve heard Indiana and Utah are the two most likely destinations. I think Utah is, from what I’ve been told, more likely than Indiana. There are several permutations there with Indiana where it could be Myles Turner and Buddy Hield together or one of the two.
This situation could end very soon, but nobody knows what will happen or where he’ll land next. Reports suggest that Darvin Ham is ready to work with Westbrook and even Patrick Beverley together, but it seems like the Lakers are still working to move him away from Crypto.com Arena. Things can get interesting in the next couple of days, but we have to wait to see what’s next for Westbrook.
