Talking on the Woj Pod, Turner said the Lakers should “take a very hard look at this [trading picks for Hield and Turner] with the position that you’re in.” 

About his current team, the Indiana Pacers, Turner said that “coming into a contract year,” the Pacers shouldn’t lose him for nothing if he signed elsewhere. 

Starting Turner alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron James could make for a stifling defensive frontcourt. It also lets Davis play his preferred power forward position. It also solves some of the spacing issues, as Turner is a credible three-point shooter, averaging 34.8 percent for his career. 

Since Turner and Davis can be expected to miss a lot of games, they’ve got coverage at the center position without dipping into their shallow big-man depth.

Of course, Turner doesn’t care about the Lakers’ cap situation or whether the team has first-rounders in 2029. The Pacers are tanking and playing guys so young they weren’t alive for the Y2K Bug. The Lakers have a worse record, but they’re trying to win games. They’re doing that in Los Angeles, not Indianapolis.

Turner is an unrestricted free agent this summer, but his expiring contract makes him more attractive to the Lakers than Hield, who is signed through 2023-24. It also makes trading him more urgent for Indiana, especially if his implied threat not to re-sign with the team isn’t just a bluff.

After all the trade talk, Turner scored seven points in the Pacers’ loss to the 1-5 Brooklyn Nets.