Lakers could trade for Pacers' $30 million former No. 6 overall pick

The Indiana Pacers proved last year that they can advance far into the playoffs without one of their rising stars on the court.

Indiana surprised the basketball world by getting to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 and giving the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics a run for their money in a handful of closely contested games.

The Pacers received excellent production from its backcourt of Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard, not to mention a surge of admirable play from shooting guard Aaron Nesmith.

The contributions of Haliburton, Nembhard, and Nesmith collectively made up for the fact that Indiana was missing former No. 6 overall pick Bennedict Mathurin due to injury.

Mathurin has been one of the Pacers’ best players since he was drafted, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and eighth in Sixth Man of the Year voting for a breakout rookie season in which he averaged 16.7 points per game in 78 appearances.

Mathurin was averaging similar numbers during his sophomore season (2023-24) before he went down with a torn labrum in March that ended his season.

Indiana has started the current season by rolling out the lineup that reached the ECF, with Mathurin coming off the bench. Mathurin poured in a team-high 20 points in Friday’s loss to the New York Knicks, showing that he’s recovered fully from shoulder surgery and is ready to be a dangerous scorer again.

The Pacers have to love that Mathurin is back healthy. However, their success last year without Mathurin make Indiana more willing than expected to trade him for a valuable return if the right offer comes along.

The Los Angeles Lakers would certainly be interested in Mathurin given their desire to add another guard or wing scorer.

Indiana might be interested in a package from the Lakers that provides them with some much-needed frontline depth (some combination of Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood, and Jarred Vanderbilt would suffice), and if Los Angeles was willing to sweeten the deal with draft capital, the Pacers would definitely consider.

Mathurin would be a plug-and-play guy for the Lakers who could come off the bench and offer instant offense. He's in the penultimate year of his four-year, $30 million rookie contract.

Should Lakers GM Rob Pelinka have an offer ready?

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