Lakers Rumors: LA 'Reengaged' in Trade Talks Regarding Pacers Guard Buddy Hield
It doesn't look like there is much traction on a deal sending Kyrie to Los Angeles at the moment. The Lakers and Nets have been at a standstill for some time regarding what a trade would look like. At first, it was what kind of draft capital would be included, then news broke that the Nets wanted to include a third team to take on Russell Westbrook's contract.
Then there is of course the Kevin Durant drama and how that will all pan out. With the stars not aligning for the Lakers, they have started their search elsewhere to upgrade the roster and possibly dump Westbrook.
According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Los Angeles and the Indiana Pacers have reengaged in talks once again about a trade centered around center Buddy Hield.
"There has been some talks reengaged between the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers. Now that would center around a Buddy Hield deal and could be a deal that could include Russell Westbrook if you're also talking about having Myles Turner in that deal. Or perhaps it could be a secondary move where you would be talking about a Talen Horton-Tucker type of package to get Buddy Hield."
It's unclear what kind of deal the Lakers are thinking about making at his point, or if any such deal would actually take place.
However, adding Buddy Hield to LA's roster would go a long way toward improving from last season's performance. The Lakers famously opted to trade for Westbrook instead of Hield last summer at the urging of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
While Hield has been identified as a plan B in case the team can't acquire Irving, there has been talk about the team trying to potentially acquire both players which would surely be an all-in move by the front office.
Could both deals get done? Sure they can. Are they likely to? Now that's a different question.
