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Pretend the Westbrook for Turner and Hield went down.

Turner, Thomas
AD, Gabriel
James, Walker
Hield, Reeves
Beverly, Schroder, Nunn

chefy wrote:Pretend the Westbrook for Turner and Hield went down.

Turner, Thomas
AD, Gabriel
James, Walker
Hield, Reeves
Beverly, Schroder, Nunn

3rd round

I think Reaves starts over Hield, just for the defense and he has earned it, but In saying that Hield would probably work his way Into the Lineup

Lakers gonna need another Big man even with the trade - Howard or some one who can give you 10-15 min a night

It will take time for them to gell with one another, but get that trade and then add IN Irving In FA next year #winning

1st round

Westbrook actually delivers recently.

Hield is a defensive liability and I don't want him on the Lakers at all. We have enough fire power with Walker and Reaves. Pat Bev can be the "3rd string" SG if not traded while playing majority of minutes at PG.

Turner is good. But not a game changer you want who can make the team a contender immediately.

If the trade happened before the season, I think we would’ve been a 4 or 5 seed. And with a healthy LeBron and AD, we’d either go to the WCF or lose in 6 or 7 in the second round.

Now? We have so much ground to make up. I think we’d finish as a 6th or 7th seed. Probably 7th and it’s hard to win a 2-7 series matchup.

Not only are they good players, but they both also address major needs. I think those two make this the best team in the West.

I still think Lebron and AD can be top 5 players in the playoffs. And Turner and Hield would put them in the best possible position to succeed, so i'd say it would make them a legit title contender.

TylersLakers wrote:If the trade happened before the season, I think we would’ve been a 4 or 5 seed. And with a healthy LeBron and AD, we’d either go to the WCF or lose in 6 or 7 in the second round.

Now? We have so much ground to make up. I think we’d finish as a 6th or 7th seed. Probably 7th and it’s hard to win a 2-7 series matchup.

Yup, this is an aspect that probably hasn't been discussed enough. The list of in-season trades that vaulted a team into contention is very small, we probably take this a bit for granted since acquiring Pau in 08 is arguably the most successful. The Nets trade for Harden midseason probably would have resulted in a championship if not for the injuries to him and Kyrie. The Rockets won in 95 after trading for Drexler but they were the defending champion. I can't think of any other big in-season trades in recent memory that drastically shifted a team's fate. The Raptors' trade for Marc Gasol in 2019 is another really important one.

If we did a Hield/Turner trade, I would hope Reaves would start as the nominal PG

Reaves / Bev / Schroeder / Nunn
Hield / Walker IV
LeBron / Brown Jr.
AD / Gabriel / JTA
Turner / Bryant / Jones

From there, it seems obvious to try for a Bev/Nunn for a wing trade. Maybe we can attach a couple of seconds and get Oubre or Bogdanovic? Can't think of other options off the top of my head, but I think it's very likely we'd see a trade for a $15million ish wing if a Hield/Turner trade did happen. I haven't been super impressed with anyone in the West so I think that roster would have a fighting chance against anyone. We might have some issues with creation outside of LeBron, but AD/Turner with a savvy distributor like LeBron would be really tough for anyone to match up with.

I dunno but I feel we go with Westbrook all the way at this point how things are going.

I had the Lakers with Hield/Turner being a probable second round exit before the season, and I still have them there. The difference between what's changed though, is that I also think this current Lakers team, with Westbrook off the bench and AD healthy, is a probable second round exit and our record would indicate that if RW was off the bench to start and we didn't get off to that terrible slow start. Note that I'm not saying I expect this team to make the second round this season...despite a long time left in the season I think that slow start will hurt seeding wise.

We always needed a secondary playmaker after 2021, and the Hield/Turner trade doesn't address that, while this version of Westbrook does. Don't get me wrong last year's version of RW also provided that, but he brought so many other negatives that far outweighed the positives. And also don't get me wrong, this version of RW is still very flawed. The difference is that the fit/lineup management has led to a happy motivated RW, with a lot less negatives, such as team defense, slow starts, and chemistry issues.

My opinion:

I think the FO has it right based on recent reports. Trade Bev/Dunn and a single 1st for an impactful win now player(s), and keep RW, because he is still addressing a need in the roster.

That player could ideally be Turner, but names like Hield and Rozier are also options.

If Turner, start Walker/Lebron/AD/Turner with either Reeves or Schroder and keep RW off the bench.

If Hield or Rozier (or another guard), Start the newly acquired player with either Reeves, Schroder, or Brown and keep RW off the bench.

Basically, I would prefer RW/Turner to Hield/Turner at this point, and fortunately we have the other contracts to make that happen still. RW also has a lot more value if AD/Lebron (especially Lebron) were to miss any time.

Realistically, we are a long shot at being a legit contender either way, however with Lebron's age, I also think it's hard to completely stand pat. I think trading Nunn/Bev/1st is a good compromise for maximizing our win now chances, without completely jeopardizing the future.

SK21209 wrote:

TylersLakers wrote:If the trade happened before the season, I think we would’ve been a 4 or 5 seed. And with a healthy LeBron and AD, we’d either go to the WCF or lose in 6 or 7 in the second round.

Now? We have so much ground to make up. I think we’d finish as a 6th or 7th seed. Probably 7th and it’s hard to win a 2-7 series matchup.

Yup, this is an aspect that probably hasn't been discussed enough. The list of in-season trades that vaulted a team into contention is very small, we probably take this a bit for granted since acquiring Pau in 08 is arguably the most successful. The Nets trade for Harden midseason probably would have resulted in a championship if not for the injuries to him and Kyrie. The Rockets won in 95 after trading for Drexler but they were the defending champion. I can't think of any other big in-season trades in recent memory that drastically shifted a team's fate. The Raptors' trade for Marc Gasol in 2019 is another really important one.

If we did a Hield/Turner trade, I would hope Reaves would start as the nominal PG

Reaves / Bev / Schroeder / Nunn
Hield / Walker IV
LeBron / Brown Jr.
AD / Gabriel / JTA
Turner / Bryant / Jones

From there, it seems obvious to try for a Bev/Nunn for a wing trade. Maybe we can attach a couple of seconds and get Oubre or Bogdanovic? Can't think of other options off the top of my head, but I think it's very likely we'd see a trade for a $15million ish wing if a Hield/Turner trade did happen. I haven't been super impressed with anyone in the West so I think that roster would have a fighting chance against anyone. We might have some issues with creation outside of LeBron, but AD/Turner with a savvy distributor like LeBron would be really tough for anyone to match up with.

It's crazy - but ever since I posted this, I assumed by now we'd be 5-6 games out of the 7th spot. Right now we're 3.5 games out of 4th place. 2 games out of 7th. We have a real chance if we can make some good moves and get back 3-4 good players with Westbrook, Nunn, Beverley, x2 1sts.

The dream is some sort of a Bulls trade potentially involving DeRozan/Caruso/Vucevic/Lonzo combined with a Hield deal in my opinion.