REPORT: Jazz Trades Patrick Beverley to the Lakers to Accelerate Rebuild
The Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers reportedly agreed to a trade that’ll send Patrick Beverley to LA while Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson will play for Utah.
The Jazz are trading Patrick Beverley to the Lakers for Talen Horton-Tucker, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 25, 2022
The trade is expected to be finalized sometime this Thursday morning, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
Patrick Beverley is returning to LA — this time, with LeBron James and the Lakers pic.twitter.com/SHY6XGLIAa
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 25, 2022
Beverley will be playing in LA for the first time since he was a Clipper. Beverley played for the crosstown rival from 2017-2021 and is expected to bring his much-needed defensive presence and bulldog mentality to the Lakers’ locker room. First-year Coach Darvin Ham has made it clear that his main priority other than revitalzing confidence with Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis is to improve the Lakers’ defensive standing.
Acquiring Beverley will do just that. Over the past five seasons, Beverley has held opponents to 41.9 percent shooting as the closest defender, secnodn best among players that have defended 2,000 shots, per ESPN. Beverley has one year and $13 million remaining on his contract. His expiring deal will give the Lakers significant salary-cap space to build around Davis and James, who will be the only players on the Lakers’ books in 2023-24.
Beverley was reportedly eager to join the Lakers via trade, per ESPN, and was thrilled to learn of the impending deal. The late summer deal helps Utah inch closer to their rebuild after acquiring Horton-Tucker; the franchise is reportedly expected to remain active on the trade market and will likely still be seeking a trade partner for Donovan Mitchell.
Horton-Tucker averaged 10 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists last season. Johnson put up 6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.
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