Pacers’ Myles Turner Implies Comments on Lakers Taken Out of Context

November 1, 2022

Pacers center Myles Turner created some waves on Monday when he appeared on the podcast from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and discussed if the Lakers should trade for him.

But he indicated what he said, or intended to say, and what was on the Internet were to different things. Turner clarified his thoughts on the state of things in an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

“I think that you can’t look at a small snippet of a podcast and try to assume your own narrative,” Turner said, via Scotto. “I’d encourage people to listen to the full 30-minute session that I did. I think when you’re put in a position to answer hypothetical questions, then it can definitely get taken out of context.

“For me, I love it here in Indy. I haven’t made any decisions. When the time comes to make a decision, that’s when you’ll hear from me.”

Turner, of course, has been linked to the Lakers in a potential trade for point guard Russell Westbrook. Pacers shooting guard Buddy Hield reportedly has also been mentioned in the talks between the teams — which supposedly ended when the Lakers refused to surrender their next two trade-eligible first round draft picks (2027 and ’29).

It’s been said that the sides could revisit those discussions prior to the February trade deadline.

Wojnarowski asked Turner whether the Lakers should make a deal for him during the podcast.

“It’s such an intriguing question,” Turner said, via Wojnarowski. “I think personally when you look at this business of the league and look at the landscape of the league, you have to go off your future — we all know picks are so valuable in this league — and someone like myself, I’m going into the last year of my deal and you want to make sure you’re getting a return for your assets. If I’m the Lakers, I take a very hard look at this with the position that you’re in.”

Turner, 26, has been with the Pacers since they selected him with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He led the NBA in blocked shots at 3.4 per game in 2020-21, and was averaging 3.7 swats through the first three games this year.