Lakers’ best-case starting 5 in 2022-23 without Kyrie Irving

Lakers’ best-case point guard: Patrick Beverley

Patrick Beverley was traded to the Utah Jazz in the Rudy Gobert trade and he is likely not going to spend much time with the organization. Beverley is on an expiring deal and it makes much more sense for Utah to trade him for something rather than keeping him.

Los Angeles could flip Talen Horton-Tucker for Beverley if they did want to make a trade. The Lakers are reportedly not interested in making that swap, but quite frankly, they should be. THT is one of the most overrated assets in recent Lakers history and even if he does blossom as a player, it won’t come until after his current contract is over.

While the team is reportedly not interested in pursuing that kind of trade it certainly could still happen if the team comes to its senses later in the offseason. An even better situation for LA would be Beverley simply getting bought out if no other contender wants to trade for him.

Regardless, Pat Bev would be a nice point guard to add to the team. While not in his prime, it would give the team a promising perimeter defender to make up for some of the defensive deficiencies of Hield. Plus, putting Beverley with Anthony Davis could have really good results.

Beverley does not need to dominate the basketball to be successful, which is what you want in a point guard next to LeBron James, and he can hit down shots as an off-ball shooter. He is not an elite shooter but he can hold his own.

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That would give the Lakers a starting five of Beverley-Hield-LeBron-Davis-Turner. It is not absolutely dominant but it is good enough to contend for a title.