The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz appear close to completing a trade centered around Patrick Beverley ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers and Jazz are in “advanced talks” for a trade that would send Patrick Beverley to Utah in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson.
Beverley is coming off a strong 2021-22 campaign with averages of 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists with the Minnesota Timberwolves. His leadership and embrace of the dirty work played a key role in helping the team to make the playoffs.
Perhaps most important of all for the Lakers, they now have another competent guard talent to deploy when they seek an alternative to Westbrook. In speaking of Westbrook, the personal clashes the two have had over the years add a fascinating subplot to it all. Will the Lakers be able to keep Westbrook around with another reason to move on?
The addition of Beverley will be a great fit for the Lakers. He will do all the things that Westbrook routinely is unable; play on-ball defense, knock down catch-and-shoot jumpers, and do the little things on both ends. Given Beverley is on a $13 million expiring salary, it’s all the better.
Moving on from Talen Horton-Tucker’s $10.3 million salary is a helpful aspect of this trade for the Lakers. He also has an $11 million player option for 2023-24. He wasn’t a clean fit with the team last season. Now, they don’t have to hope he develops.
How the Los Angeles Lakers navigate the rest of their offseason will be fascinating. Again, Russell Westbrook remains a prime candidate to be traded, and not having to part with draft capital to get this trade done is a helpful step. Possible trade partners to send out veteran players in exchange for Westbrook and two future first-round picks include the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz.
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