It has been reported that the Lakers are waiting for a "specific player" to become available before trading their point guard Russel Westbrook and the likely more valuable first-round draft picks for the years 2027 and 2029.
Any return to previously discussed players such as Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets or Myles Turner and Buddy Hield of the Indiana Pacers seems unlikely after Tuesday's reports from Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated on The Crossover NBA show:
"And in those discussions, when I brought up the Lakers, the pushback I was getting was they're waiting for a specific player," Beck said. "That they're not doing the Pacer deal, that they won't do the Kyrie deal now that we for sure thought they would do a couple months ago, is an indication that the Lakers are waiting for a bigger piece to come loose that they think they can trade Westbrook and the two future firsts for."
Some may find this surprising with the multitude of problems currently facing the Lakers, evident in failing to make the play-offs last season and their underwhelming start to the current campaign. It seems odd that the Lakers aren't even considering more talks about Hield and Turner who would likely help with at least some of their problems.
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However, following his promotion of an antisemitic film via social media. it isn't exactly a shock that the discussions regarding Kyrie Irving have stopped. So it seems highly unlikely that my colleague DJ is going to be correct in his prediction that Irving will never play for the Nets again (quite possibly still correct) and that he will end up at the Lakers (almost certainly incorrect according to Beck).
Follow Max Bennett on Twitter at @MaxBTheJumpHub
