The smartest move the Los Angeles Lakers could make this midseason is not to sacrifice depth for a third superstar but instead double down on size and defense as their championship identity by trading for Myles Turner.
The Lakers have clearly seen how playing next to a modern stretch five center like Christian Wood unlocks the best possible version of Anthony Davis as a superstar and makes the team more competitive and dangerous.
Rather than gamble on a better fitting and more complementary version of Russell Westbrook, the Lakers would be smarter to trade for Myles Turner and a deep and diverse roster as their path to more NBA championships.
Darvin Ham has already shown his hand with respect to size and defense at the two guard position, where the defensive oriented 6′ 7″ Cam Reddish or 6′ 9′ Jarred Vanderbilt are projected to become the starting shooting guard. The next logical step is to trade for stretch five center Myles Turner and move Anthony Davis and LeBron James to the four and three. That would give the Lakers great positional size advantage at almost every position.
Trading for Pacer’s center Myles Turner and doubling down on size and defense as the keys to winning in today’s NBA and establishing the bully ball physicality and identity the Lakers want for their basketball team.
THE TRADE
While the Pacers have gotten off to a 6–4 start to the season with an offense performing at an unsustainable level and a defense that sucks, chances are high they’ll become sellers rather than buyers by the middle of December.
While the Lakers can offer a package of young players under 30 to match salaries, any trade for Myles Turner will require significant draft capital from the Lakers, in the form of at least a lightly protected pick and swaps.
In addition to their top-5 protected 2029 first round pick, the Lakers could also include their 2027 first round pick if first through fourth and pick swaps for their 2028 and 2020 first round draft picks in a Turner package.
With the great play of Tyrese Haliburton and a bevy of talented players under 23-years old, the Pacers hope to be good enough to make the play-in tournament this season. If those aspirations fail, the Pacers will be sellers. The Pacers do have two coveted veterans in 27-year old center Myles Turner and 30-year old elite 3-point shooter Buddy Hield, whose time to be sold high for top dollars in return for draft capital may have finally come.
The Pacers need young players who can defend and a deal to acquire three valuable young prospects and one or two post-LeBron James first round picks or swaps from the Lakers could happen as soon as December 15th.
THE DEPTH CHART
The immediate impact of trading for Myles Turner is the Los Angeles Lakers will suddenly have the biggest and best defensive starting lineup and deepest and most diverse 10-player rotation in the entire league.
The Lakers’ starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Cam Reddish, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Myles Turner would have positional size advantage that few teams in the NBA would be able to match or counter.
The Lakers would have a starting lineup that’s bigger, longer, and more athletic than any other team and physically capable of totally dominating opposing teams in the paint, on the boards, and from the free throw line.
The Lakers’ primary backups of Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Christian Wood, and Jaxson Hayes could be the deepest and most diverse bench and anchor the best 10-man rotation in the league.
The Lakers would have everything needed to cruise in the regular season and peak in the playoffs. Two elite rim protectors. Two elite stretch bigs. Two elite point-of-attack perimeter defenders. Two elite playmakers.
Trading for Indiana Pacers’ center Myles Turner is the ultimate move by the Los Angeles Lakers to build what could be the NBA’s next generation defense with major positional size and length advantage at most positions.
THE SALARY CAP
While the Lakers sacrificed valuable draft capital to acquire Myles Turner, they have actually improved their salary cap position because they now possess over $70 million in coveted players on team friendly contracts.
Have players that other teams covet on under market contracts will enable the Lakers to take advantage of star players suddenly becoming available. Trade assets include Turner, Russell, Hachimura, Reaves, and Vanderbilt.
Assuming the Lakers did not give up more than their 2029 first round pick and the 2027 first round pick if it’s top-4, they should then have enough draft capital next summer to offer at least 1 first round pick and 2 swaps.
For the second year in a row, the Lakers have also remained below both luxury tax thresholds thanks to negotiating under market contracts with many of their players and attracting talented players on minimum deals.
The Lakers success with minimum contract projects like Jaxson Hayes, Rui Hachimura, and Cam Reddish — the 8th, 9th, and 10th picks in the 2019 draft — is the only reason the Lakers can afford to trade for Myles Turner.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for Myles Turner would not only make them a championship defensive team but also leave them with great depth and enough draft capital to make a blockbuster deal to replace LeBron James.
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It’s difficult to say that those post-Lebron picks are gonna be in the Lottery and in the same breath say that these trades set us up for future success. Both can’t be true and the GM’s making those trades know this.
Both could also be untrue. Frankly, I think the Lakers have already done a great job fielding a very young, deep, diverse, and talented roster to surround Anthony Davis. Lakers have a chance to stay as a contender when LeBron retires but they’re going to need another star to go with Davis and maybe more of an alpha. Don’t see how to do that unless the Lakers can milk another couple of productive years from LeBron James. Trading for Myles Turner could do that.
I also don’t know why the Pacers (who are playing well) would trade the only real size they have on their team and not get any in return. This Turner thing has always been good in theory but doesn’t really hold up when the purple & gold tinted sunglasses are removed.
Pacers would certainly need to come back down to earth to make the trade, which I expect to happen. They’re playing over their head right now offensively but poor on defense. Weak East is their only chance. Haliburton is legitimate game changer though.
The Pacers were playing well last year before they were devastated by injuries. Ownership has stated repeatedly over the last two years that they want to build and compete. 27 year old Bruce Brown, same age as Turner, was ready to sign with the Lakers for 13 mil but they offered him 20 mil. Sounds like they are serious. Besides that 2029 first round pick doesn’t do the current young core much good. Halliburton will turn 29 the year they can use it. If healthy they have a real chance of at least making the play in, which is the organizations goal.
Pacers always want to be Very Good, but Great is usually not their point.
Really hard to see the Pacers moving Turner for three dudes who don’t crack the starting rotation, maybe not even the 1st or 2nd player off the bench for their defensive anchor. That’d be like the Lakers trading AD for TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin, and Buddy Heild or something.
Also the Lakers need guard help waaaaay more than another big man. Trading for Turner creates a massive glut at the 4/5, marginalizes Wood and Hayes, and doesn’t help open up the floor.