While they should be much better than their record says that they are, the Indiana Pacers have dealt with a ton of injuries this year that have decreased their chances to win many games this year. T.J. Warren went down with a foot injury four games into the NBA season and after trading for Caris LeVert back in January, he is just now making his debut with the Pacers after having a small mass removed from his kidney. 

As a result, Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis have been trying to carry this team to this point in the year and have actually done a great job doing so. Indiana is just a few games back from the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference and at full-strength, they have a chance to make their way to the playoffs and be a tough team to beat given all the talent they have on their roster. 

Doug McDermott has been a really solid role player for them this season and has stepped up with Warren being out, but he is a player that the Pacers could look to move ahead of the trade deadline. He is in the final year of his contract this season and with them having plenty of depth on the wing, the Pacers could look to get a solid amount of value by trading him. 

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There have been no talks of the Pacers looking to move any of their core players at this time and it is expected that Doug McDermott will remain with Indiana, but the Los Angeles Lakers are always looking to add more talent and could potentially target the Pacers’ forward should he become available. 

The only question is can the Lakers offer up enough in-return to convince the Pacers to trade McDermott? Let’s take a look at a trade scenario that could send Doug McDermott to the Los Angeles Lakers.