Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers have wanted the team to trade Russell Westbrook for the last several months.
Never mind that he’s still a good player and that he played very well off the bench in Sunday’s win over the Denver Nuggets. Fans simply want him off the team, one way or another.
The Lakers have pitched multiple trades involving Westbrook, and one of the rumored offers they received was center Myles Turner and sharpshooter Buddy Hield for the former league MVP plus two future first-round draft picks.
But L.A. apparently isn’t interested.
When Turner himself was asked if the Lakers should do such a trade, he stopped short of saying yes, but he said they should seriously consider it while promoting his strengths.
Via Lakers Daily:
“Turner was asked an interesting question: If he were in L.A.’s position, would he trade the picks and get the deal done with Indiana?
“‘I think personally, when you look at this business of the league and knowing the landscape of the league, you have to go off your future, right?’ he started. ‘And we all know picks are so valuable in this league, and someone like myself, I’m heading into the last year of my deal, and you want to make sure you’re getting a return for your assets, right? So, if I’m the Lakers, I take a very hard look at this with the position that you’re in. I know what I can provide for a team — my leadership, my shot-blocking, my 3-point ability and just my ability to make plays out there on the floor. … But as far as pulling the trigger, I get paid to shoot, not to make these calls. So, I couldn’t answer that.'”
Should the Lakers give up the two picks? Full audio of Pacers center Myles Turner on The Woj Pod: https://t.co/yP00bwvnMZ pic.twitter.com/GZvSg9BLyp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 31, 2022
For the record, while Turner is an impressive shot blocker (he’s averaging 4.5 rejections per game), his 3-point shooting has been overstated by some. While he is hitting 37.5% of his attempts from downtown to start this season, he has shot less than 35% from that distance in each of the previous three years.
