The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t quite played at the level the team would have hoped when they made the trade to acquire Russell Westbrook — forming an NBA superstar trio with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
It was a clear expectation for the Lakers that surrounding their superstar talents was going to be a challenge given how much of the salary cap is dedicated to them. While playing Anthony Davis at the center position is their best option, the team has tried playing two big combinations and those have underachieved.
The Lakers need to determine if the long-term vision is to play Davis at the four or the five.
If the choice is to have him at the four, making a move for a stretch-five that can rim protector — a difficult skill-set to find — would be the uniquely qualified option to potentially make it work at a high enough level.
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According to John Hollinger, a former NBA executive and writer for The Athletic, the ‘most realistic’ trade option for the Lakers would be to acquire Myles Turner from the Indiana Pacers. He explains that Turner’s strengths would help the unit while his weaknesses would be minimized.
“So the name I’m left with for the Lakers is Myles Turner. He makes $18 million, so his salary works if Nunn and Horton-Tucker are outbound. He’s already signed for next season at that number, so the Lakers’ salaries won’t get too out of hand in the final $47 million year on Westbrook’s deal. Turner plays center, which allows Davis to play his preferred power forward spot, but he’s a 3-point shooter who won’t get in the way like the current Laker centers do. His biggest weakness is rebounding, but Davis and LeBron are so good on that front, it probably won’t hurt L.A.”
Turner would essentially face a situation that is similar to the one with the Indiana Pacers where he’s mostly tasked with spacing the floor or being involved in pick-and-pop at times. Davis’ poor jump shooting would make rim rolls crowded for Turner while also making his drives off the catch more challenging.
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With Russell Westbrook also being an underwhelming shooter, Turner would likely face impactful stunts that cause early pickups on his drives off the catch while also facing more outright help rotations cutting him off. It would be easy to send a double when he’s posting up a switch, too.
Let’s face it, the relaity is that Anthony Davis is nowhere near good enough of a jump shooter for another big man to thrive playing alongside him. It would have to be an ultra low-usage big that doesn’t want to be tasked with being much more than that. It would be easier to fully commit to closing out early on his spot-up attempts, too.
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Would Myles Turner be satisfied with such a role this close to needing a new contract? That’s hard to imagine considering his role be even smaller than it is with the Indiana Pacers given he’d be playing with Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis.. The same can be said about whether the Los Angeles Lakers need to be sending out the few trade assets they still have to land a low-usage starter set to make $18 million.
