Full details about ‘I was told the Lakers and Pacers had some trade talks this week’ – NBA insider reveals a Lakers
The LA Lakers have been repeatedly linked with the Indiana Pacers as potential trade contenders for Russell Westbrook this offseason. Although nothing significant happened, the door was not fully closed by either team.
The LA Lakers did their best to improve their roster in the offseason. Although they made changes to replace the older players they signed last year, their moves aren’t really worth paying attention to.
Ahead of the 2021-2022 season, the Lakers were interested in trading several players for Buddy Hield. This should fix their lack of a reliable gunman in the area. However, their plans changed when both LeBron James and Anthony Davis pushed hard to trade for Russell Westbrook.
In Westbrook, people thought the doors were closed to reaching Hield, especially after he was handed off to the Pacers by the Sacramento Kings. But it seems the Pacers are still interested as they have reportedly been in talks with the LA Lakers.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, both the Lakers and Pacers have been in trade talks with multiple players and decisions. The Lakers are unfazed by the Pacers’ demands for the two first-round picks. Instead, they will wait until the close of trading.
“I’m told that the Lakers and Pacers had some trade talks this week and the Pacers were asking for two unprotected first-round picks,” Charania said, “…that price of two first-round picks just isn’t attractive to the Lakers. “
“The Lakers realized this is a very important bullet to use. If you look at two unprotected first-round picks, they should expire exactly when it makes sense to trade. “Right now this Pacers pack from Buddy Hield and Myles Turner is not what they would trade two first-round picks for.”
The LA Lakers will look at how to use the picks requested by the Pacers at the close of trade. One thing to keep a close eye on is Russell Westbrook’s involvement in the trade rumors.
The LA Lakers learned their lesson in trading their future picks
When LeBron James joined the LA Lakers in 2018, the team immediately transformed from a rebuild team to a contender. While it wasn’t a quick change, the team has taken significant steps towards this status.
The team missed the playoffs in James’ freshman season, leading to big changes in the 2019 offseason, including Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and several future picks in exchange for Anthony Davis. It paid off as they won the 2020 NBA Championship in the Orlando Bubble.
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However, due to fatigue, they were eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 playoffs. Then they decided to add another star and traded several players and future picks for Westbrook.
Now the LA Lakers have learned their lesson and are holding their own in trading the assets demanded by the Indiana Pacers.
‘I’ve been told the Lakers and Pacers had some trade talks this week’ – NBA insider reveals one Lakers
