The Los Angeles Lakers made a move to acquire Patrick Beverley in the 2022 offseason, and it now looks like the team is looking to upgrade from him as the Feb. 9 trade deadline quickly approaches.
NBA insider Brian Windhorst recently looked at what the Lakers may try to do in the next two weeks, and he said that at the moment, the team appears more likely to try to marginally improve upon its stable of guards rather than swing big in a blockbuster deal.
"I think it's more likely for the Lakers to look for a [Patrick] Beverley flop than there is to be a blockbuster deal at this point."
Brian Windhorst on what other moves the Lakers could make before the trade deadline#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/FTDHqGLiJe
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) January 26, 2023
“I think that they’re gonna continue to be active looking for guards, basically looking to upgrade their guards, seeing if they can upgrade from Patrick Beverley especially,” said NBA insider Brian Windhorst.
When the Lakers acquired Beverley prior to the start of the regular season, the hope was that he would be able to operate as a defensive stopper on the perimeter as well as a solid shooter beyond the arc. Unfortunately for the Lakers, he hasn’t really delivered on either of those aspects of the game this season.
His defensive rating is at 115 so far this season, the highest number of his career. He’s also hitting just 33.6 percent of his 3-point shots and 39.4 percent of his overall field goals this season.
The Lakers may have hit a home run with their recent acquisition of forward Rui Hachimura. He looked great in his debut for the Lakers on Wednesday and was plus-17 on the night.
To land him, the Lakers only had to give up Kendrick Nunn and three second-round draft picks. Rob Pelinka and company would surely love to complete another deal like that for a talented guard that can produce at a high level.
The Lakers are 5-5 in their last 10 games, and they are going to need to see an improvement on that record in the next 10 games if they want to make up ground in the wide-open Western Conference.
That is going to be really hard to achieve in the near future, however, because the Lakers are on the cusp of a five-game road trip against some really tough opponents.
The Lakers will face off against the Boston Celtics on Saturday and then take on the Brooklyn Nets two days later. They’ll then take on the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers before wrapping up the road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans.
It will be interesting to see if trade rumors for the team heat up during that time frame.
