Following the fallout of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving seemingly staying with the Brooklyn Nets, the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly made a move on Wednesday night to acquire veteran guard Patrick Beverley from the Utah Jazz.
Although the trade hasn’t been made official by the Lakers or the Jazz, Beverley reacted to the news early on Thursday. It seems he’s pretty happy to be headed back to Los Angeles to play for the team that initially drafted him in 2009.
Woke up a Laker!!! 💜💛🙏🏾 Its On!!!
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) August 25, 2022
Following the proposed trade reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday night, the reaction was mixed about Beverley heading back to the Lakers, especially considering it involved Talen Horton-Tucker and fan favorite Stanley Johnson being shipped to Utah.
Despite being arguably the most attractive trade asset on the team the last few years, the Lakers had held onto Horton-Tucker, with those within the organization believing he has a bright future. However, that stance has changed if this trade does indeed go through, as former Lakers head coach Frank Vogel may have been the reason he was never moved.
With Beverley seemingly now in the fold, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Russell Westbrook. These two veterans are not fond of one another, which creates bad blood in the backcourt and the locker room.
"Pat Bev trick y'all man. … He just running around, doing nothing"
Russell Westbrook and Pat Beverley are now teammates in L.A. 😬
(via @MarkBermanFox26)pic.twitter.com/fMERNm4L5m
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 25, 2022
Although the consensus is that Westbrook will be traded before the start of the season, a deal has yet to come to fruition. However, this proposed trade may spark another deal to follow soon after involving Westbrook.
The Lakers aren’t done wheeling and dealing, especially with LeBron James having recently signed a contract extension. But, of course, he wouldn’t have put pen to paper without some kind of assurance that the team was willing to keep making moves to improve the roster.