Why Lakers Should Pursue Pacers Trades amid Kyrie Irving Rumors

Will Kyrie Irving end up with the Los Angeles Lakers or won't he? With so many rumors swirling this summer, nobody is quite sure. But it's possible the 30-year-old point guard could soon be wearing purple and gold.

It seems that will be the case if LeBron James has his way. According to The Athletic's Jovan Buha, James wants to reunite with Irving, his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate, in Los Angeles.

But not everybody with the Lakers may want the same thing.

"I think there’s a slight divide right now where LeBron James wants Kyrie Irving and some people internally might prefer a Myles Turner/Buddy Hield-type deal," Buha recently said on The Athletic NBA Show (h/t HoopsHype).

Whether Los Angeles wants to acquire Irving from the Brooklyn Nets or Turner and/or Hield from the Indiana Pacers, the team may have to wait. Because it doesn't appear like either potential trade is going to materialize quickly.

Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times believes the Lakers will eventually trade for Irving. It just may not happen in the immediate future.

"The Lakers just have to be patient," Turner said during a Spotify Live hosted by NBA reporter Marc Stein (h/t ClutchPoints). "From everything I've read and from what I've been told, the Nets will not do anything regarding Kyrie until they trade Kevin Durant."

That domino might not fall for a while, considering ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on NBA Today on Friday that general managers around the league who are waiting for the Nets to resolve the Durant trade situation "may be waiting a while."

So perhaps the Lakers will look to deal with the Pacers instead. ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported that Los Angeles and Indiana have discussed a potential multi-player deal. However, things have stalled on that front as well.

"I'm told that those talks basically went nowhere," McMenamin said during an appearance on ESPN on Friday. "The Pacers didn't believe that the Lakers gave a good enough offer to continue having that conversation."

But McMenamin noted that Los Angeles isn't done this offseason, and it's going to make a move (or several) to try to improve its roster after missing the playoffs during the 2021-22 season. And that makes sense, considering the Lakers haven't added a ton, signing a few complementary players in free agency.

Which path should Los Angeles pursue, though? Wait for the Brooklyn situation to be resolved and trade for Irving? Or forget about that potential deal and up its offer to try to land both Hield and Turner from Indiana?

The Lakers may be better off doing the latter. They already tried a core of three stars with James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, and they didn't get the intended results. Subbing in Irving for Westbrook may not lead to a championship season, either, because even though Irving is talented, it may just not be the best fit.

Hield is the perfect type of player for the Lakers to add. The 29-year-old has shot 39.8 percent from three-point range over six NBA seasons, and he would greatly improve Los Angeles' play on the wings.

If the Lakers could also acquire Turner, they'd have an even greater interior presence. And he's only 26, so it could be a strong long-term fit as well.

So while the Irving path may seem like a good one—and may be the one that James wants—it may not be the correct one. Los Angeles could be better off pushing to make a trade for Hield and Turner, even if that type of deal comes at a substantial price. Because it seems more likely to help the Lakers have success and not have a repeat of last season.