Lakers Rumors: LA Eyes 'Specific Player'; Won't Do Kyrie Irving or Pacers Trades

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly waiting for a "specific player" to become available in order to trade point guard Russell Westbrook and their first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2029.

Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated reported Tuesday on The Crossover NBA Show (via Peter Dewey of Lakers Daily) that L.A. doesn't plan to circle back to previous discussions involving the Brooklyn Nets' Kyrie Irving or the Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.

"And in those discussions, when I brought up the Lakers, the pushback I was getting was they're waiting for a specific player," Beck said. "That they're not doing the Pacer deal, that they won't do the Kyrie deal now that we for sure thought they would do a couple months ago, is an indication that the Lakers are waiting for a bigger piece to come loose that they think they can trade Westbrook and the two future firsts for."

Los Angeles was widely expected to make a blockbuster trade over the summer after failing to make the playoffs with a 33-49 record last season, but that never materialized.

Pressure on the front office to shake things up has further amplified during the team's 2-8 start to the current campaign.

During an interview with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Turner caused a stir last week when he urged the Lakers to seriously consider trading for him.

"If I'm the Lakers, I take a very hard look at this with the position that you're in," Turner said. "I know what I can provide for a team—my leadership, my shot-blocking, my three-point ability and just my ability to make plays out there on the floor. And I take a very long look at it. But as far as pulling the trigger, I get paid to shoot. I'm not paid to make these calls, so I couldn't answer that."

While Turner and Hield wouldn't solve every problem facing the Lakers, they would bring some much-needed outside shooting to the roster, which makes it somewhat of a surprise L.A. isn't even at least considering more talks with Indiana.

It's less surprising the Irving talks have faded away while he serves an indefinite suspension of at least five games from the Nets for his promotion of an antisemitic film on social media.

Brian Lewis of the New York Post reported Tuesday that scouts also expressed concern about Irving's on-court actions prior to the firing of Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash, as he failed to run plays that were called.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," an unnamed scout said. "Nash would call something, and he'd run the opposite. I've never seen anything like that."

What player the Lakers are waiting to become available is unknown, but the good news for the front office is that Westbrook has started to bolster his trade value since moving to the bench.

The 33-year-old UCLA product, who endured a mostly forgettable first season in L.A., has averaged 19.3 points, 6.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 51.3 percent from the field as a reserve for the past six games.

That push toward a return to form by the nine-time All-Star should allow the Lakers to get a little more value in return if he's ultimately moved.

For now, it doesn't sound like general manager Rob Pelinka and Co. are rushing to get a deal done, though.