Anew Los Angeles Lakers trade idea would land Myles Turner, the starting center of the Indiana Pacers team that reached the 2025 NBA Finals.
Turner, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks as a free agent last year, has not quite fit in well with the Central Division franchise. When he arrived, he was expected to play alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo on a veteran team coached by Doc Rivers. However, the Bucks are now going in a different direction with a new coach and a young core of players. The 30-year-old Turner will be better utilized on a veteran team.
Lakers Trade Idea Lands Myles Turner
Lakers would receive: Myles Turner
Bucks would receive: Jarred Vanderbilt, Jaden Hardy, Dalton Knecht
Why the Lakers Do It
Trusting the Lakers’ center rotation to Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney is a massive risk. Between Kessler’s season-ending shoulder surgery and Looney falling out of interim Pelicans coach James Borrego’s rotation due to injuries, the pair managed just 26 combined games last year. Gambling on two fragile big men is a recipe for disaster in a Western Conference dominated by Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama.
Bringing in a Finals-tested stretch big like Myles Turner is a no-brainer for Los Angeles. Even during a so-called down year, he was drilling 2.1 threes a game at a clip of 38%. He immediately injects a legitimate stretch-five element into an offense that desperately needs it — with all due respect to Kessler’s expanding range. Better yet, JJ Redick gets to experiment with twin-tower lineups where both athletic bigs can feast on lobs and pick-and-rolls. If the Lakers can land Turner, they have every reason to make an offer.
Why the Bucks Do It
The hypothetical trade allows the Bucks to get out from under Turner’s massive four-year, $109M contract that projects to get worse by the final year in 2028-29. At that point, Turner will be 34 and likely not worth the price tag of $29M per season.
The incoming salaries of Vanderbilt, Hardy and Knecht allow the Bucks to free up the books for the long term. While Hardy and Knecht can be waived in a year, Vanderbilt will have only one season left (a player option in 2027-28), which shouldn’t sting as much as Turner’s long-term money.
Furthermore, it’s hard to foresee Turner getting too much playing time on a young Bucks team that prepares to build around Kel’el Ware, Brayden Burries, Nate Arment, Tyler Herro and Ryan Rollins. Ware is expected to be the new starting center for head coach Taylor Jenkins, while John Butler Jr. is a youngster the franchise is invested in. Also, Arment, standing at 6-foot-10, is known to be a combo big who can play the five.
Lakers Proposed to Land Myles Turner in Blockbuster 3-for-1 Trade