While any official link probably remains behind closed doors at this juncture, the Indiana Pacers and the Los Angeles Lakers are still tied on the rumor mill. With the latter starting the season off on a negative note, being winless through three games, fans are vehemently calling on their front office to pull the trigger on a deal that is perhaps long overdue.
In reality, the timing couldn’t be any better: the Lakers are fumbling fast and the Pacers’ need for their veteran commodities is shrinking in light of the play of Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin, who have been tremendous to kick off the campaign. If past reports hold up, LA simply has to give in to Indiana’s desired return of two unprotected first-rounders to acquire Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, two players who will instantly help mitigate their dearth of shooters.
One NBA star, however, prefers to see himself get moved to Hollywood instead of a potential Pacers-Lakers trade seeing the light of day.
NBA star prefers a deal involving him instead of a Pacers-Lakers trade
Gordon Hayward, currently with the Charlotte Hornets, saw himself at the center of social media circles just recently after indicating his desire to be traded to the Lakers, himself not being too conducive to the possibility of a deal between the Pacers and LA in the process.
One fan took a screenshot of Hayward purportedly liking one of his tweets about the frameworks of a Lakers-Hornets trade:
— The Noble Savage (@ThatBlackPope) October 22, 2022
Hayward has since retracted the like.
The former All-Star wanting out of Charlotte definitely has its merits. After all, the Hornets aren’t really tabbed by many to be a legitimate threat in the playoff picture in the East, that is if they even get there.
With LaMelo Ball currently injured, and two of their teammates currently embroiled in off-court, legal issues, Charlotte is definitely not in an envied place early in the season. And for a veteran like Hayward, playing for a team with much loftier goals than just making the postseason makes more sense, though the Lakers do not necessarily fit the bill as currently constructed.
Nevertheless, besides the exhilarating start to the season of the Pacers’ young cogs, fans should also remain keen on the rumor mill, where Indiana will definitely become a hot topic in the following weeks as teams start to get a sense of what deals should be done to improve their bids to compete this season.