Late last month, the Los Angeles Lakers made their first major splash of the offseason when they traded youngsters Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson for veteran guard Patrick Beverley. At the time of the deal, fans and experts alike were quite surprised by the move for a number of reasons.
One NBA source was not as much surprised by the move itself, but rather by the timing of the move. As fans will remember well, the trade occurred as rumors surrounding former Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell were swirling.
Though the Lakers were briefly mentioned as a possible suitor for the All-Star guard, the general sentiment around the league was that the Lakers lacked the necessary pieces to get a deal done.
That wasn’t the case in the Beverley trade, and the swap seemingly came out of nowhere when it took place.
“It was a little strange that the Lakers and Jazz did the Beverley deal when they did because you knew they’d have more to talk about down the line,” the source told Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “They (L.A.) had interest in Mitchell and that was something Danny [Ainge] was keeping on the back burner, but there were other offers ahead of where the Lakers were. Danny always knew he could go back to them. There is no question that the Lakers would have made the move for Mitchell if they could and the Jazz wanted those two picks (2027 and 2029).”
The NBA source could be indicating that the Beverley trade served as a precursor to more moves getting done between the Jazz and Lakers.
If another deal did take place, it would almost certainly include guard Russell Westbrook and future draft picks. If the Lakers were willing to move both their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, there’s a strong chance that they’d get the pick of the litter when it comes to the veterans still remaining on the rebuilding Jazz squad.
Not only are those picks highly valuable, but Westbrook’s massive expiring contract could actually help the Jazz facilitate a different trade sometime during the season that could lead to them stockpiling even more future draft picks.
As for the Lakers, players like Jordan Clarkson, Malik Beasley and Bojan Bogdanovic come to mind. Any combination of those players would likely do wonders for the Lakers when it comes to spacing on the offensive side of the ball.
Though these hypotheticals are surely nice to think about, they are nothing but conjecture at the moment. Still, as the Beverley trade reminded NBA fans, moves can get done in the blink of an eye, and it would not be a shock if the Lakers and Jazz reconvene for another move sometime in the coming weeks.
