Reports: Lakers will acquire Roy Hibbert from the Pacers
Los Angeles is reportedly set to acquire center Roy Hibbert from Indiana.
The Los Angeles Lakers will reportedly acquire center Roy Hibbert from the Indiana Pacers, absorbing his contract into their cap space. Hibbert spent his first seven years of his career with the Pacers.
According to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, Indiana will receive a future second-round pick in the deal. The discussions were first reported by ESPN's Marc Stein.
If the move is completed as expected, Hibbert, 28, will immediately become the Lakers' starting center. Only two years ago, he was the anchor of the league's best defense. Things will obviously be very different in Los Angeles, as the roster doesn't currently have any other good defenders, but at least Hibbert can help. The Minnesota Timberwolves was the only team last season with a worse defensive efficiency than the Lakers, and there are few humans on this planet who can protect the rim better than Hibbert.
Pacers president Larry Bird was transparent about wanting to play faster when he spoke to reporters in April, and the writing was on the wall for Hibbert's departure. In fact, forward David West told WTHR that he was bothered by what Bird said about his teammate, saying Hibbert was thrown under the bus. When Indiana selected center Myles Turner with the No. 11 pick in the draft, it became even more obvious that this split was coming.
If Turner develops properly, perhaps the Pacers can eventually have a great offense and a great defense. In the meantime, though, they'll probably take a step back when it comes to getting stops. As for Los Angeles, well, general manager Mitch Kupchak couldn't acquire any of his big-name targets in free agency. It's lucky that a player like Hibbert was so easily obtainable in a trade.
