Lakers News: Does Myles Turner Think The Lakers Should Give Up Both Draft Picks For Myles Turner?

The Indiana Pacers' intriguing 3-and-D center weighs in.

Everyone has an opinion on whether or not your Los Angeles Lakers should trade for Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner and shooting guard Buddy Hield -- even Myles Turner.

The proposed deal would theoretically send the $47.1 million expiring contract of Lakers sixth man Russell Westbrook and some amount of future first-round draft capital, either one or both of the team's 2027 and 2029 future picks, to the Pacers in exchange for Turner and Hield.

Appearing on Adrian Wojnarowski's ESPN podcast The Woj Pod, Turner offered up a fairly measured, diplomatic response, acknowledging that he understood L.A.'s reticence to surrender both its future draft picks for the opportunity to snag him:

"Someone like myself, I'm heading into the last year of my deal, and you want to make sure you're getting [a good] return for your assets . 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 three-point ability, and just my ability to make plays out there on the floor. And I take a very long look at it. But as far as pulling the trigger, I get paid to shoot, not to make these calls, so I couldn't answer that.

As recently as the start of the NBA preseason, the Lakers were considering the possibility of adding Turner to their roster. It appears that team president Rob Pelinka is hoping to hold off on making a deal until around Thanksgiving, a wait that seemed to be in jeopardy until L.A. finally snagged its first win of the year last night against Nikola Jokic and the 4-3 Denver Nuggets.

Injuries have limited the oft-hurt Turner to just two games for Indiana thus far, but he has produced when available. The 6'11" big man out of Texas posted averages of 16 points on .381/.375/1.000 shooting splits, eight rebounds, two assists, and 4.5 blocks a night. The blocks and the shooting (he's making that 37.5% mark comes on four triple attempts a night, and the perfect free-throw shooting is being nailed on 6.5 attempts) are the most intriguing elements of his game for L.A., a team in desperate need of both.

Through seven games, Hield is averaging 17.1 points on a high-volume .457/.446/.833 shooting splits, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists for the 3-4 Pacers.