Are the Pacers really a legitimate trade candidate with the Lakers for Russell Westbrook?
While most around the league expect that Pacers to be a team interested in a Russell Westbrook trade with the Lakers this offseason, but will that actually be the case?
Early reporting on a potential Russell Westbrook trade has singled out a pair of teams as the likeliest candidates to be interested in acquiring him in the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers. Both deals would be largely — if not entirely — financially driven with Westbrook’s expiring deal, even at $47 million, being desired in a very specific circumstance.
When it comes to the Pacers, the deals of Buddy Hield and Malcolm Brogdon are worth a combined $100 million over the next few seasons. For a franchise not known for its willingness to pay big prices for teams or to go into the luxury tax, the belief exists that their desire to shed cap space could make Westbrook an intriguing player.
Having said all that, on this week’s episode of “Can U Dig It,” a podcast by the Silver Screen & Roll network, myself and Christian welcomed in Indy Star Pacers beat writer James Boyd to talk about a potential Westbrook trade and all the details surrounding it.
We talk about Boyd’s recent article in which he made the case against Indiana trading for Westbrook as well as how much the financial ramifications could factor into the Pacers’ decision-making. We also discuss the Pacers’ lack of a desire to tank again next season as well as — should a trade go through — what makes Brogdon and Hield attractive pieces.
Before all that, though, Christian and I talk about Sunday’s playoff games, which included the Suns imploding to the Pelicans as well as the Nuggets surviving one more game against the Warriors and the Nets being on the brink of being swept by the damn Celtics.
You can listen to all that and more on our latest episode in the player embedded below, and to make sure you don’t miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude and Christian at @RadRivas. And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.