Last summer, LeBron wanted Russell Westbrook. This summer, he wants Kyrie Irving. As expected, the Lakers front office again appears ready to give James what he wants and trade for Irving despite last season’s lessons.
So far, the Lakers have done everything right. They hired a charismatic young defense-first head coach who runs a modern NBA offense in Darvin Ham and revamped their roster to be younger, longer, and more athletic. All the Lakers need to do to miraculously bounce back from last year is trade for players who complement and help James and Davis rather than players who will take valuable touches and points away from them.
Ironically, the Lakers find themselves in almost the same situation as last summer, when they pulled out of a Buddy Hield trade at the last minute to instead trade for Russell Westbrook to become the team’s third superstar. Today, the Lakers know they can trade Westbrook and two first round draft picks to the Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. Yet, they can’t resist waiting for a chance to trade for Kyrie to be their third superstar.
Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris or Myles Turner and Buddy Hield? Offense plus 3rd star or defense plus depth? Here’s why the Lakers should choose defense plus depth and trade Westbrook for Turner and Hield:
1. Turner and Hield Won’t Take Touches From James and Davis
Rule #1 for Rob Pelinka and the Lakers is don’t do things that will take away from LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While Kyrie Irving is a huge upgrade over Russell Westbrook, he will take touches from LeBron and AD.
On the other hand, Myles Turner and Buddy Hield will complement and make it easier for LeBron James and Anthony Davis by giving them the spacing and support to enjoy career seasons and regain top-5 standing. Strategically, the last thing the Lakers should do is take the ball from LeBron James and Anthony Davis but that is exactly what happens when you add a third ball dominant superstar like Russell Westbrook or Kyrie Irving.
There’s no argument that replacing Russell Westbrook with Kyrie Irving would be a major upgrade for the point guard position and for the Lakers superstar big three. The question is whether a superstar big three is best. There’s an argument two superstars and a deeper, more versatile roster is a better championship formula than three superstars and a shallower, less versatile roster as there simply aren’t enough touches for three superstars.
The Lakers were lucky injuries kept LeBron and AD from having to sacrifice touches to Russ last season. They need to realize trading for Kyrie Irving will definitely take away touches from LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
2. Turner and Hield Will Make Lakers Better Defensive Team
The Lakers need to follow up their successful hiring of charismatic young defense-first head coach Darvin Ham by trading Russell Westbrook for the package of players that will make the Lakers a better defensive team.
It’s one thing to say defense wins championships but another to follow through when it comes to making trades but that’s the challenge the Lakers are facing right now. Should they trade Westbrook for offense or defense? Having committed to a 4-out offense with two bigs, the Lakers would be forced to gamble by having an untested young player in Thomas Bryant or Damian Jones start at center should they end up trading for Kyrie Irving.
Trading Westbrook for Turner, on the other hand, would give the Lakers the elite defensive anchor they desperately need. Myles Turner led the league in blocked shots past two seasons and is still only just 26-years old. Turner protecting the rim also frees Davis to play the four and roam the paint as a help shot blocker or play the three and become the Lakers’ wing stopper, which has become today’s most important defensive role in NBA.
Pairing Myles Turner, who led the league in blocked shots the past two seasons, with Anthony Davis would give the Lakers the best defensive front court duo in the NBA and 48 minutes of elite rim protection every game.
3. Turner and Hield Are Better Fits for Head Coach Darvin Ham
The Lakers only have to look back at the disconnect between the front office and the coaching staff last season to understand the importance of an organization to be on the same page and working in the same direction.
Being a first time head coach in the NBA is a daunting enough challenge without having also to deal with the front office not giving you the players who best fit the kind of offense and defense you want to run as the coach. Asking a brand new head coach like Darvin Ham to resurrect a legendary franchise after one of the worst seasons in its storied history is enough without asking him to deal with Russell Westbrook or Kyrie Irving.
The Lakers would be smart to give Darvin Ham the players he needs to make his offense and defense work. That means a proven rim protecting, floor spacing modern center and aggressive attack dog at point guard. Myles Turner would be the proven shot blocker and 3-point shooter Ham needs instead of an untested youngster and Patrick Beverley could be the 3&D point guard Ham needs instead of the defensively inept Kyrie Irving.
The Lakers need to resist the lure of a third superstar and focus on giving defense-first head coach Darvin Ham the players he needs to build a championship defense by trading for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
4. Turner and Hield Will Make Lakers Deeper and More Versatile
The problem with three superstars is it forces teams to build out the rest of their starting lineup and rotations with unproven young players, over-the-hill veterans, or guys coming off injuries who only make the minimum.
The result is a team that is extremely vulnerable to injuries to their big three and lacks the quality in the other starters and first backups off the bench to win, especially when it comes to the high pressure of the playoffs. Building a deep and versatile roster is impossible when you’re paying all three superstars max salaries. Not only are there not enough touches for all three players but there’s no money left over to build the rest of the roster.
Part of the goal of trading Westbrook is to transform him into three players earning $47 million combined. If they trade for Turner and Hield, they will still have assets to add another key piece, like point guard Pat Beverley. Should the Lakers trade for Kyrie Irving, who earns $37 million, the Lakers would not have trade capital to be able to make a second trade for Beverley. And they would start a young center whose never started for a full season.
The Lakers need depth and their goal should be to trade Russ and THT for at least four legitimate rotation players including at least two high impact defenders like Turner and Beverley to give Ham the defenders he needs.
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1558928194681446400
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1558928644558422016
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1558929082468839425
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1558929549827510272
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1558929960722608128
With or without any of these packages, the team will win about 65% of the games Lebron and AD play together. What’s an optimistic view there? 60? 65 games? That’s where that 44.5 o/u number comes from and it sounds within the realm of reason.
From a basketball standpoint I don’t really worry about bringing in Irving and either Curry or Harris. The odder the Durant saga gets the more likely I think they roll with Irving, Simmons, et al and try to work the phones for a palatable KD deal. All of my issues with Kyrie stem from him not really wanting to play more than 50-55 games/season but get paid for 82. If we’re wishing on stars and dreams are coming true I’d like a Millennium Falcon and one of the Voltron lions.
I’ve always seen an Indy deal as both the best fit for us and potentially the cheapest route. Since that hasn’t materialized I think the Lakers will basically wait until up to camp and quite possibly on into the season in the hopes of driving the price down over time, especially if Indy isn’t competing in the east.
The reason Indy wants 2 draft picks is simple: they don’t truly need that much cap space. They’re sitting at $90.6 mil now and will be down to $70.2 mil next summer. They hold team options on all their good, young players. There are three players due for an extension after this season, NBA luminaries Andrew Nembhard, Oshae Brissett, Goga Bitadaze, and of course Myles Turner. They won’t be dolling out multi million dollar deals to that crew next summer, Turner theoretically excluded should he want to return. There aren’t free agents worth that much coin and even if there were would Indy be at the top of anyone’s list to play?
Russ’s $47 coming off the books would mean dropping that $70.2 down to $51.7 accounting for Buddy’s deal next season. they can just Turner and Buddy and absorb that extra $10 mil into their cap space. That, along with the actual cost to the team for buying Russ out) is a lot of money to account for in what will be fairly dry free agent market next summer
-LBJ
-Russ
-Khris Middleton
-James Harden
-Kyrie
-Porzingis
-K-Love
-Wiggins
-DeAngelo Russell
-Al Horford
Those are the top ten set to be URFA’s next summer (in terms of current salary). Which of them is both worth a max deal and will come to play in Indy? There are other notable players, Wiggins, Vucevic, Harrison Barnes, Myles Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Caris LaVert but those guys aren’t driving the superstar payday train. Wiggins should be but after that you’re looking at $10-15 mil/season players, at best.
So I totally agree that we should focus on Indy. I just see a few more obstacles to getting a trade done soon than you do. Could still happen if the Lakers want to overpay in a bidding war against nobody. Something that would likely change midseason when teams might have a different set of needs than they do now and might be inclined to offer better picks than we have. More than a couple reasons for Indy to hold firm on a high offer from LA.