Indiana Pacers: Time to capitalize on LeBron and Lakers desperation

The Pacers need to continue their rebuild and acquire assets, especially at the power forward position. The Lakers, will need to do everything in their power to keep LeBron James and their current window open before they ultimately need to turn the page. Rumors are swirling that Kyrie Irving will be interested in going to LA in the offseason. All of this could be the perfect storm for the Pacers to swoop in and find great value on the trade market.

The Lakers are a franchise that makes rash decisions, often looking to the short-term by trading in their long-term. And they are a large market team and have the bandwidth to do that, so they should. But they will be desperate this offseason and the Pacers could potentially make a change.

You will see a lot of Hield/Turner trade pieces that are ridiculous from the Lakers media this offseason (here is one that just came out), and there may be a few that hold some water. The Pacers are not going to sell the farm to the Lakers, if it happens, it will be the other way around.

The Lakers, in desperation of shedding salary to make space for Kyrie Irving, will be looking to cut and offload assets to make space. It is at this moment the Pacers should look for a Rui Hachimura or Jarred Vanderbilt to become available for the Pacers to sign or trade for.

The most likely Pacer to be included in a bigger trade is Buddy Hield, and that may still be unlikely.

There are a handful to Pacers that may be included in a trade as salary filler, but Buddy Hield is the most likely to headline a somewhat large trade. He has a bigger contract for salary matching purposes and is coming off of a scorching hot shooting season. If there is a player that goes to the Lakers for draft capital or a larger contract, Hield is probably the most likely candidate.