Lakers linked to $40.9 million former NBA block champion amid trade rumors

The Los Angeles Lakers have already been linked to several trade candidates this season. Most of them have been high-level defensive centers to hold down the interior alongside, or behind, Anthony Davis. The Lakers are 26th in the NBA in rebounds per game, so adding another big man seems like a sensible move.

On offense, the Lakers score the seventh-most points in large part thanks to Davis, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. Their main focus should be and is shoring up the defensive side of the ball, but if an incoming player can be a reliable scorer, that’s just an added bonus. 

The Lakers allow the fourth-most points in the paint while scoring the sixth-most, so any center they do add should be able to space the floor a bit. They have already been linked to Brook Lopez and Nikola Vučević, but another Eastern Conference team might be ready to reset their roster.

Amid plenty of frontcourt injuries, the Indiana Pacers’ only real center is Myles Turner. He is in the last year of his $40.9 million contract and could look to sign elsewhere this season. The Pacers are currently 6-8, and Turner is averaging 17.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks while shooting a solid 42.4% from 3-point range.

In a mock trade proposed by Fadeaway World’s Fran Levia on Monday, the Lakers could send Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and a 2029 first-round pick to the Pacers for Turner. Such a deal would require Indiana to effectively give up on this season, but a future-driven package could allow the Pacers to build around Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and Jarace Walker. Both Hachimura and Vanderbilt would shore up Indiana’s defense, and Davis will be 36 years old by the time the 2029 pick conveys.

While the Pacers aren’t ready to wave the white flag quite yet, as the trade deadline gets closer, expect teams to inquire about Turner’s availability. 

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