Lakers, Pacers discussing Buddy Hield trade

Then, Monday morning on Get Up, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers aren’t just focusing on Irving, that talks between Brooklyn and L.A. are “not dead yet,” and that there’s a “good chance” Irving will be back with the Nets “to start the season if Kevin Durant is back in Brooklyn.” “I think the Lakers will make a deal, maybe more than one deal,” said Woj. “It may not be for Kyrie Irving, it may not be for an All-NBA player, an All-Star… players like Eric Gordon in Houston, Buddy Hield in Indiana, players like Patrick Beverly who came to the Jazz in a trade from Minnesota who are role players on winning teams. What is the price for those kinds of moves? They’re going to continue to be active on those things. -via NetsDaily / July 19, 2022

You can safely presume that Westbrook is aware of James’ stance. He surely knows, no matter what Ham says, that the other two starry prongs in last season’s ill-fated Big Three — James and Anthony Davis — are eager for a trade to materialize that essentially swaps Westbrook for Irving, even though both campaigned for the Lakers to acquire Westbrook from Washington last summer despite Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka’s advanced talks with Sacramento on a deal headlined by perimeter shooting specialist Buddy Hield. -via marcstein.substack.com / July 9, 2022

A second source I spoke to expressed pessimism that the Lakers would have the required assets to assemble a trade in which they acquire both Hield and Myles Turner from Indiana. Various reports have described the two Pacers as prime targets for L.A. if it is unable to assemble an Irving trade construction that Brooklyn is prepared to accept. -via marcstein.substack.com / July 9, 2022