Lakers officially trade for Patrick Beverley.
The Lakers finalizing a deal to send 21-year-old Talen Horton-Tucker and 25-year-old Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz in exchange for 34-year-old veteran Patrick Beverley.
After numerous trade rumors from last season and this offseason, Horton-Tucker is finally traded. Horton-Tucker was once as highly valuable as being the final piece involved in a Kyle Lowry deal a few seasons ago but eventually fell out due to not wanting to involve THT in the deal.
Beverley, meantime, has long been planning to return to Los Angeles, this time donning purple and gold. Beverly spent four seasons in Los Angeles for the other LA team before the Clippers traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2021 and then to the Timberwolves nine days later, spending all of last season with Minnesota.
This summer, Beverley was sent to Utah as part of the Rudy Gobert deal. Trading an experienced point guard for a lottery ticket in THT makes a lot of sense for Utah as they make their way towards rebuilding.
Stanley Johnson’s inclusion was required in order to match salaries, as Horton-Tucker was short of Beverly’s contract. This move also frees up a space on the roster.
Beverly averaged 9.3 points and 4.6 assits per game last season with the Timberwolves, shooting 34.3% from the three and 40.6% overall from the floor.
The upside of this deal is that Patrick Beverly adds a 3-and-D versatility at the point guard position for the Lakers, which is something they lacked all of last season. With the Lakers being linked to the Pacers that involves Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, you can’t truly grade this trade until we see what other moves the Lakers make. They’re definitely not done.
