Despite reports that the Los Angeles Lakers trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook all recently spoke on the phone to reaffirm their commitment to each other for the upcoming season, it is clear that LA is still trying to find a way to trade Westbrook away from the team. There hasn't been much progress in this respect, though, and it seems that the front office is now trying to find more creative ways to try and make this deal come to fruition.

According to NBA insider Dave McMenamin of ESPN (via ClutchPoints on Twitter), a trade with the Brooklyn Nets for Kyrie Irving has not picked up much steam:

“Lakers general manager and president of pro basketball personnel Rob Pelinka has been making phone calls to teams about trying to trade Russell Westbrook out of town,” McMenamin said. “The latest intelligence I have is that things have not moved in terms of the Brooklyn front. There is no traction on a deal that would involve sending Russell Westbrook out and bringing Kyrie Irving in.”

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As such, the Lakers have now engaged with the Indiana Pacers in a potential swap deal that will bring in Buddy Hield and possibly Myles Turner to Hollywood:

“One thing I have learned in the last day or two, tagentally, that there has been some talks re-engaged between the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers. Now that would center around a Buddy Hield deal. Could it be a deal that would include Russell Westbrook? If you're talking about also having Myles Turner in that deal. Or perhaps it could be a secondary move where you would be talking about Talen Horton-Tucker-type of package to try and get Buddy Hield.”

The Lakers were linked to Hield before the start of the 2021-22 season, but they instead opted to bring in Russ. That didn't exactly work out well for them, so perhaps they are trying to correct that misstep now. McMenamin notes that it's also possible that Westbrook does not figure in the deal, and that LA could opt to send Talen Horton-Tucker to Indiana in exchange for Hield.