The Los Angeles Lakers‘ pursuit of a center hit another wall as Indiana Pacers‘ Myles Turner is not available, NBA insider Marc Stein reported.
“The Pacers’ phones are undeniably ringing with interest in Myles Turner. That was inevitable with Turner just months away from unrestricted free agency now.
Yet the prevailing leaguewide sense, one week out from the trade buzzer, is that the Pacers do not want to trade Turner,” Stein wrote in his “The Stein Line” Substack newsletter on Thursday, Jan. 30.
Center became the Lakers’ top priority in this trade deadline after Anthony Davis made public his desire to play next to another starting-caliber big man, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.
It became an even greater need with Davis suffering an abdominal muscle strain that will keep him out at least until the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Lakers ‘Internally’ Discussed Myles Turner Trade
The Lakers have internally discussed trading for Turner as they shifted their focus to him as the trade cost of their other targets Jonas Valančiūnas or Nikola Vučević remains relatively high, per Clutchpoint’s Anthony Irwin.
“According to sources with knowledge of the situation, the Lakers have held extensive conversations about Turner internally and are weighing whether it makes sense to put both the first-rounders they can move this trade deadline on the table for him,” Irwin wrote.
But even if the Lakers are willing to part ways with their valuable draft capital, they would still face a significant hurdle.
“There is a strong belief among some league personnel that Indiana would need to see proposals that return a starting-level center to even consider the notion,” Stein added.
The Lakers do not have a starting-level center aside from Davis on their roster.
Anthony Davis’ Recovery Timeline
Amid their frantic search for a center in the trade market, the Lakers are staring at the possibility of losing Davis not only for one week as initially reported.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, an MRI confirmed Davis is nursing an abdominal muscle strain that caused him to leave in the first quarter of their 118-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Davis “will return to L.A. immediately and be reevaluated in approximately one week,” McMenamin added.
But it could be more than just one week, according to Dr. Evan Jeffries, an NBA and NFL injury expert and owner of the San Diego-based Evolving Motion Physical Therapy.
“Anthony Davis will be re-evaluated in a week does not mean he will return in a week,” Dr. Jeffries said in a post on X. “Signals in between a grade I-II strain.”
Dr. Jeffries outlined in a separate X post that a grade I abdominal strain will take 7 to 10 days to recover. A grade II abdominal strain will need a 3-to-6-week recovery timeline.
The Lakers will be without Davis at least in their next four games, three of them against playoff/play-in contenders — East’s No. 3 New York Knicks, West’s No. 5 Clippers and the Golden State Warriors.
A losing streak without Davis could be devastating for the Lakers as they are just one game ahead of the play-in group in the standings.
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