On Aug. 24, a deal was finalized, sending Utah Jazz point guard, Patrick Beverley to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson. Aside from All-Star center, Rudy Gobert getting traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the fiasco in Brooklyn between Kevin Durant and the Nets front office, this off-season lacked noteworthy trades until the Lakers pulled the trigger on acquiring Beverley. Bringing the former Clippers guard back to the city of angels in purple and gold.
Patrick Beverley is returning to LA — this time, with LeBron James and the Lakers pic.twitter.com/SHY6XGLIAa
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 25, 2022
Surprisingly, Beverley’s name has not been mentioned much in the days since the trade. Superstar LeBron James is also barely mentioned regarding his team’s new acquisition. The spotlight has mostly pointed towards Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook, who is coming off one of his worst seasons in the NBA.
In his first year in Los Angeles, the former MVP averaged under 20 pts (18.5) for the first time since 2009. His rebound and assist averages also went down from 11.5 to 7.4 and 11.7 to 7.1 respectively as the Lakers finished 11th in the Western Conference.
On the other hand, Beverley helped the young Timberwolves beat his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, in the Play-In tournament, securing their first trip to the playoffs since 2018. After falling to Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies in six games, Beverley was sent to Utah in the same deal that shipped Gobert to Minneapolis.
Whether or not the two will be sharing roles for the Lakers is still a mystery. However, due to their history, fans are beginning to question if they can even coexist.