A few days before training camp, the Lakers suddenly called off a proposed trade that would have sent Russell Westbrook and their 2027 and 2029 unprotected first round picks to Indiana for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
The repercussions of the decision not to pull the trigger on the Pacers’ trade could impact the present and future of the Los Angeles Lakers. Rather than decide, Pelinka and his front office team opted instead to do nothing.
Not only was that a poor decision but, unless immediately reversed, it undermines any chance the team has to be competitive this season and will force the Lakers to make major midseason changes to their roster.
Hanging onto Westbrook until midseason in hopes the Pacers will drop their price or a new superstar will hit the trade market is a strategy the cost of which rises after every loss while hopes for a championship disappear.
Every day spent with the current roster is a day the Lakers should spend integrating Turner and Hield. Wait first twenty games and the season is 1/5 over. On December 15, it’s 1/3 over. By February 9 deadline, it’s 2/3 over.
The Lakers’ failure to resolve the Russell Westbrook conundrum before the season has put Lakers’ rookie head coach Darvin Ham in a tough position as the roster he’s been given is not good enough to make the NBA playoffs.
The smart move is to rethink the situation and restart talks with the Pacers. The Lakers cannot afford to be patient and should under no circumstances wait longer than the first twenty games before trading Westbrook.
Specifically, here are five reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers need to trade Russell Westbrook and their 2027 and 2029 unprotected first round draft picks to the Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield as soon as possible.
1. Lakers Need Strong Start to Season Despite Tough Schedule
Getting off to a strong start is the single most important reason the Lakers need to trade Westbrook and their two first round picks now rather than waiting twenty games or more to see how they do and what comes up.
The simple reality is the Lakers will almost surely end up sacrificing this season if they persist with what appears to be their current plan of waiting to see how the team performs and what develops in the trade market.
Integrating two new starters like Myles Turner and Buddy Hield should be done before the start of the season, not halfway through the season when the team is fighting for playoff position and stability and continuity.
What we’re talking about here is the Lakers wasting twenty games or 1/5 of the season and the months October and November to see whether they can somehow win as currently constructed or if the trade winds might change.
Not making the trade before camp was a mistake but one easily rectified by reopening negotiations with Indiana. Every game the Pacers win hurts their chances of getting Wembanyama. Both teams need to move ASAP.
The Lakers front office should be encouraged by how LeBron James and Anthony Davis look but the Lakers need a legitimate stretch five starting center, a pair of wings to backup James and Davis, and more shooting.
Having Turner and Hield on the roster before the start of the season would make rookie head coach Darvin Ham’s job infinitely easier and the elevate the Lakers to legitimate contenders to win their 18th NBA Championship.
Not trading Westbrook before training camp was a big mistake but one that can be easily rectified by contacting the Pacers and closing a deal to trade Westbrook and the two picks for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield ASAP.
2. Lakers Need Turner and Hield for Ham’s Systems to Work
No disrespect to Damian Jones or Thomas Bryant but, if the Lakers want to run Darvin Ham’s version of the Milwaukee Bucks’ offense and defense, they need to trade for the Pacers’ Myles Turner and Buddy Hield right now.
So far this preseason, the Lakers have lost all three games they have played, including two where their superstar big three started and played well. The good news is the Lakers’ starting lineup has posted a positive net rating.
The bad news is contribution from the center position has been the team’s weakest link as Damian Jones’ defense won the tentative starting role over Thomas Bryant, who is still struggling to return from his previous injury.
Rookie head coach Darvin Ham desperately needs the Lakers to make the Pacers’ trade as soon as possible. Ham has done a great job dealing with Westbrook and the team’s unfinished roster that lacks size and shooting.
Implementing entirely new offensive and defensive schemes is a job that needs to be done before the season rather than the middle of the year. The Lakers need to make rookie coach Darvin Ham’s job easier, not harder.
The spacing on offense from Ham’s new 4-out sets has already been a huge improvement over the spacing from Vogel’s 5-out sets from last season. James and Westbrook especially are seeing bigger lanes to the basket.
Darvin Ham needs the upgrade to the starting lineup in modern center that Myles Turner and elite volume 3-point specialist Buddy Hield can provide. There are no better fits for what the Lakers need than those two players.
The Lakers made a big mistake not pulling the trigger on the Westbrook to Indiana trade before the start of camp. If they want Darvin Ham to succeed as their head coach, the Lakers need to complete the Pacers trade ASAP.
3. Lakers Need Depth from Trade to Upgrade Quality of Rotation
While the Lakers starting lineup has posted a positive net rating so far, the Lakers’ three losses all came from the other team’s reserves dominating the second halves and demolishing the Lakers’ young backups and reserves.
Fortunately, trading Westbrook and two first round picks for Myles Turner, Buddy Hield, and T.J. McConnell would enable the Lakers to upgrade their top five backups with the two players who used to start plus McConnell.
The Lakers could then start a lineup of Kendrick Nunn, Patrick Beverley, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Myles Turner backed by T.J. McConnell, Lonnie Walker, Austin Reaves, Jose Toscano-Anderson, and Damian Jones.
One thing that has apparently changed is the Lakers are not going to be pursuing Kyrie Irving either in trade or free agency, a decision that indicates the Lakers want to build around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Building a championship caliber roster with three max contract superstars has become almost impossible in today’s NBA. Making three superstars and a roster of minimum salary players work has not proven to be the answer.
The Lakers have no way of upgrading their roster other than trading Russell Westbrook. It’s not even a case of how Russ is playing, The Lakers simply need the three critical rotation players for whom they can trade him.
Fortunately, the addition of Myles Turner, Buddy Hield, and T.J. McConnell helps fill the size and shooting holes in the Lakers’ roster, allowing Los Angeles to dramatically improve the quality of their backups and reserves.
Swapping Westbrook for three rotation players including two starters who are prefect fits for what the Lakers need transforms the Lakers’ subpar starting lineup and shallow bench into a legitimate championship rotation.
4. Lakers Need Tradeable Contracts to Make Moves Next Summer
The one option the Lakers are unlikely to take is keeping Westbrook all season and allowing his contract to expire. If L.A. did that, they would end up with $30 million in cap space, 3 draft picks, but no tradeable contracts.
Despite talk about pursuing Draymond Green, Myles Turner, or Andrew Wiggins in free agency, the Lakers keeping Westbrook and allowing his contract to expire would likely mean writing off the entire 2022–23 season.
That’s something that’s hard to imagine the Lakers doing, especially after LeBron James signed a two-year extension and Rob Pelinka promised to trade the two picks to transform the Lakers into a legitimate contender.
As heady as having as many as three draft picks to trade for a potential third superstar, the Lakers would find themselves unable to make a major move because their only tradeable contracts would be for LeBron and AD.
That’s why during the season the Lakers need to convert Westbrook’s expiring contract into two or three non-expiring contracts that can be aggregated with draft picks to pull off a blockbuster trade next summer.
One of the strategic mistakes the Lakers have been guilty of is favoring cap space over tradeable contracts. The Lakers have been reluctant to give out multi-year contracts as they have tried to create cap space for free agents.
The result is the Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves seriously handicapped by not having available tradeable contracts to take advantage when unique opportunities to dramatically improve the team come up.
The Lakers need to accelerate their efforts to trade Russell Westbrook and their two draft picks to the Pacers as the team must convert Russ’ $47 million expiring contract in season into to two or three smaller contracts.
5. Lakers Need Pacers’ Trade to Become Championship Contender
Trading Russell Westbrook and their two first round draft picks to the Pacers for Turner, Hield, and McConnell is probably the only realistic path the Los Angeles Lakers have to winning their 18th NBA championship.
It’s mazing watching the Los Angeles Lakers essentially become paralyzed with indecision to the extent that Rob Pelinka wanted every participant in the Lakers front office to agree to support the decision to trade with Pacers.
Expanding the Lakers’ brain trust to include Joey and Jesse Buss as well as Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, and Kurt Rambis only makes it more difficult to reach a consensus. The lack of leadership by Pelinka is a serious defect.
We’ve seen the Lakers fumble the ball before as they bounce back and forth between wanting to create cap space and save draft picks, ultimately deciding not to decide or making a dumb move like trading for Westbrook.
There had been hopes that hiring Darvin Ham would give them a visionary around whom they could focus their future moves via draft and trade. Unfortunately, the decision not to do the Pacers’ trade must be reversed.
The Lakers not only have a unique opportunity to jump right into the race for an NBA championship this season but also to add three players in Turner, Hield, and McConnell who would be perfect additions to the team. Not only do the Lakers add three invaluable rotation players but they also give LeBron James and Anthony Davis the type of starters and rotation players who can legitimately compete for an NBA championship.
The Lakers have guaranteed commitment from LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the next two years. Adding Turner and Hield will give them a legitimate opportunity to win their 18th NBA championship this season.
There’s no question Rob Pelinka’s move to expand the Lakers brain trust that approves trades to include the Buss brothers likely led to the Lakers deciding NOT to trade Westbrook to the Pacers. If there are any stakeholders on the Lakers who value draft picks, it’s Joey and Jesse, one of which will likely replace Pelinka at some point in time,
Frankly, the Lakers only option to save this season is to move now to restart talks with Indy and complete the trade for Turner nd Hield. Wasting time hoping Russ would work or some new superstar will suddenly be available for the Lakers is fools’ gold. Pelinka needs to step up to the plate rather than folding, Who cares who wins the negotiation if you can’t close the deal?
Aloha Tom,
i have watched the brick fest and personally i feel our lack of shooting has been much more problematic then our center play. neither of us are privey to the way Coach Ham is rolling out his preseason rotations. however it doesn’t appear that anyone has won the starting center spot. jones got the game 1 spot, Gabriel started game 2 and Thomas started game 3. He had 18 points, 7 boards and a block in 24 minutes. if that’s struggling i cant wait to see him when he stops struggling. And a lot of those points were points that Turner wouldn’t get. he often beat the bigs down the floor and smaller players were forced to foul him. he went 8-10 from the line. Running the floor and rebounding are 2 areas that Bryant does better than Turner and both arr critical in Ham’s offense. by the way he drew praise from the coaching staff and media for his good defensive effort. struggling indeed. Perhaps he won the next start. while at this point Turner maybe the better player but the question is how much can he elevate this team beyond what our center rotation of AD, Bryant and Jones can provide. i think waiting is the smart play at this point. The team will have a better idea of what they have and who may become available later in the year. if there was a wing with size that can shoot out there, thats who i would trade a first for. that is our single biggest need. As for a start, i dont know how many more wins a trade would provide. The general consenus around the league is that a Pacer trade may make us a little better its not going to lift us beyond a 5th or 6th seed. So we will have a tough road early regardless.
I would like to think 7-3, but hope for 5-5.
Also I think that’s it: Rob can’t close the deal, not w/o being on the slightly losing end. Now we’re stuck with a leader who leads through agreement by cabal. Awesome.
1) Do you think Ham has been involved or at least partially included in the decision to move forward as is?
2) Do you think LeBron has been involved or at least partially included to move forward as-is?
3) Since it’s been proved to have not been posturing do you think that the Laker Front Office, not you Tom Wong, has gone over this same ground ad nauseam?
a
If the answer to all those questions is “yes” you have your answer. There won’t be a quick trade, knee jerk trade, or a sudden reversal of course because of every single point you just brought up.
Furthermore, because you have 2 players under contract making a tick under $30 mil who are on the roster past this summer your chances of Jeannie signing off on an extension for Turner is compromised. Trade Buddy or McConnell, right? Sure…but you’re either bringing a player back or it’s a TPE. Buddy might help solve the shooting issues, especially with the second unit but he’s 29 and is one dimensional. He’s easily played off the floor and he doesn’t break a defense down by getting in the paint. McConnell is solid, basically like an expensive version of Reaves and keeping Caruso would have been smarter. With Dennis and Patrick and Nunn I don’t see much of a role for a guy who will be here for three more seasons who’s skills can easily be found on the open market every summer for cheaper. Unlike Buddy I don’t see much of a market for T.J. unless you attach a draft asset…which will be much more difficult since all our tradeable picks will be gone.
This trade has always been about Myles Turner, as it should be, but he’s coming onto the market next summer and big men rarely command a large salary these days. Myles and his injury issues may be a turn off for a lot of teams and, armed with cap space next summer, the Lakers can surely match any offer for him should they deem it a worthy endeavor.
There are plenty of teams with a logjam of wings that have a lot of potential but not a real role. That same cap space can be used to bring back a player already under contract with no hard cap penalty, I think that only triggers if they’re signing a new deal.
In essence I think the Pacers trade is settling for an overpay. If the price comes down…I do it but not for T.J. You’ll need a draft pick to move off his salary or buy him out which I don’t see the cheap Lakers doing. Better to bring back a small TPE.
I know you think swapping Russ for Buddy and Myles significantly upgrades the team. I don’t. Adding them would help but neither is going to augment the bench all that much which is the real issue. 12/15 will be when the Lakers re-evaluate and no, it’s not ideal. It does give Ham time to see what he can do. They’re betting on Ham and health. That’s the deal, I don’t see them changing course until at least 12/15 but really not until early 2023 when other teams will have an idea if they’re shooting for a playin or going hard on VW. We can debate the logic but there’s no debating a trade that won’t happen. Not on the timeline basically everyone thought.
Who says TJ is even on the market. He is their only back up point guard. They are asking for those picks for Turner and Buddy. Why would they just throw in TJ for nothing. Just because they like the Lakers. Lol. They are already going to a low payroll.
Make the money work, get off long-term salary, go all in on VW. Point is those are, for the most part, the same goals LA has. Except the VW part since we’d swap that pick with NOLA should we end up with it.
Bottom line those three players really don’t alter the equation much. They’re nominally better than the guys we got.
They don’t need to make the money work Jamie. Trading Buddy and Turner for Russ leaves them at 109 mil. The following year they would be at 35 mil. That includes TJ. They have mostly rookie contracts at this point.
They have a new coach, a new system, and a bunch of new players. Shuffling the deck at this point won’t help.