Los Angeles is in a bad spot right now. Saying that they have been bad is an understatement. They have somehow gotten even worse than they were last season, and things are not looking up. It is obvious that major changes need to be made to this lineup. The proposed trade with Indiana does just that. Los Angeles has been the worst 3-point shooting team in the entire NBA this season. Buddy Hield is one of the best shooters in the NBA. He won’t be able to fix LAs shooting woes by himself, but at least the Lakers will now have a rotation worthy 3-point sniper. Myles Turner is also a capable 3-point shooter, though Los Angeles is more in need of his interior defense rather than his shooting. Anthony Davis isn’t the DPOY candidate he used to be. He is capable of being a good rim protector, but he can’t elevate the Lakers defense to a respectable level all by himself. Patrick Beverly has helped a little bit, but the Lakers need to add an elite defender at any position right now. Myles Turner is a DPOY candidate due to his insane ability to block shots. He has been in the DPOY conversation every year for the past few seasons. Like Buddy Hield, he doesn’t fix the Lakers defensive woes all by himself. What he does do is help elevate it to a more respectable level so the Lakers can actually stop teams from going on scoring rampages every night.

Why have the Lakers not pulled the trigger on this deal? Is it because they are giving up two first round picks that are 5+ years in the future? Well, yes that seems to be the reason. When has that ever stopped the Lakers from making a trade though? They have been very willing to give up first round picks in the past. What’s stopping them from doing it now? My theory is that they want a star player in return for those picks + Westbrooks contract. LA is always star hunting. They want the best basketball players in the world on their team. They do not care about how those players fit together (as evident by the Russell Westbrook trade from 2021). They just want those big name players. While it’s not wrong to want star players on your team, it is wrong to refuse to improve your team in other ways through trades. Myles Turner and Buddy Hield would have a huge impact on the Lakers. I believe that they could help turn LAs season around. Yet the Lakers are so stubborn with what kind of players they want that they refuse to even consider building a team in any other way. It is both incredibly frustrating and sad to see.

LeBron can’t do everything by himself, and just adding star players and nobody else around him doesn’t work. Los Angeles needs to bring in players good role players that will have a positive impact on the team and fill the major holes in the Lakers offense and defense. Will we ever see that happen? I doubt it at this point. It’s the sad truth.