In trading for Patrick Beverley, the Los Angeles Lakers now have point guard insurance should they want to trade Russell Westbrook.
After an offseason of playing the wait-and-see approach, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally made a trade. No, it wasn’t one for Russell Westbrook but it was for a point guard.
Late Wednesday night, it was reported that the Lakers were going to finalize a trade for Patrick Beverley. In exchange, the Utah Jazz would receive Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanely Johnson. Somewhat surprisingly, no draft picks are included in this deal.
The Los Angeles Lakers acquire Patrick Beverley
This is an interesting deal for several reasons. For one, it offers the Lakers necessary insurance in the event that they want to trade Russ for not a starting point guard. If they wanted, the Lakers could trade Russ for nothing. And the Lakers would still have upgraded the point guard position.
Where this could hurt the Lakers is when it comes to depth.
Even though THT never developed into the player that the Lakers believed he could be, he was a useful player for Los Angeles. And there was a belief that he would bounce back this season after a year to forget.
Nevertheless, the Lakers felt this is a move they had to make, perhaps in anticipation of another move.
Beverley may not be Kyrie Irving, but he is a player that will help the Lakers. He’s a winning player and is a pest on the defensive end. Last season with the Wolves, he averaged nine points, five assists, and four rebounds per game on 41 percent shooting from the field.
He’s a good player that will fit into a veteran locker room and defensively. However, there will be real questions about his fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He wasn’t a great 3-point shooter last season (34 percent) but has shot close to 40 percent from deep several times throughout his career.
At the very least, it’s something to monitor if the Lakers are hoping that Beverley will be an upgrade to Westbrook.
Is there another shoe to drop? Is a Westbrook trade coming next? Those are the questions that are prompted by this move. If nothing else, it gives the Lakers another option heading into the upcoming season.