Myles Turner Advocates For Himself to Get Traded to Lakers on Adrian Wojnarowski's Podcast

Even after eight or so months of speculation with nothing to show for it, everyone in the NBA world still expects the Los Angeles Lakers to find a trade for Russell Westbrook. The problem is less the Lakers' willingness to do so and more that it's pretty damn hard to find a trade for the highly-paid point guard that works both basketball-wise and money-wise. So Westbrook remains on the team and the rest of us continue to think up ways to get him out of LA.

The most popular trade percolating is one the Lakers reportedly discussed with the Indiana Pacers just before the start of the season-- Westbrook and two first-round picks for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. It is maybe the only theoretical trade that makes sense for both sides. Indiana wants to have a shot at Victor Wembanyama so trading away two competent role players is no skin off their back, plus they get two draft picks from Los Angeles that could be very valuable by the time they convey in 2027 and 2029. Hield would be a massive help for Los Angeles with his spacing, as would Turner, who comes with the added benefit of rim protection, and the potential value of addition by subtraction cannot be overstated in regards to Westbrook and the Lakers.

The only reason this deal hasn't gotten done is that the Pacers are adamant about getting those two draft picks and the Lakers' brain trust has balked. It's anybody's guess as to how long they will continue to do so or how bad things need to get before they pull the trigger. But the speculation will not cease until the trade deadline in February.

Adrian Wojnarowski invited Turner onto his podcast on Monday morning, and asked Turner about the trade. Turner then chose to use the platform to basically tell the Lakers to come and get him and rattled off the reasons why he thinks he'd be able to help the team.

Hmm. If Rob Pelinka went on The Woj Pod and listed all the reasons he thinks Turner would help the team, he'd get fined a hefty sum. Yet it's the player doing the tampering here so... everything is kosher? I don't know. This isn't quite as bad as Eric Bledsoe's legendary "I don't wanna be here" tweet but it's a similar cry for a trade that can't sit well with the owners.

It's all useless anyway. The Lakers know what Turner can offer them. It's about whether or not the Buss family can swallow dealing away two draft picks to fix the mistake the organization made by trading for Westbrook. Adding Turner and Hield does not make for a championship team but it is nearly impossible to get worse than they are now, sitting at 1-4 after two weeks.

This game of Will They, Won't They will dominate NBA discussion because it's the Lakers. Turner just made things a bit more interesting by openly advocating to get traded on a major insider's podcast. Can't wait to see what happens next.