Lakers are genius for trading Talen Horton-Tucker for Patrick Beverley
By Jason Reed
After weeks of stagnation as the team waited for the Brooklyn Nets to figure out what their direction was, the Los Angeles Lakers have made a trade. Late on Wednesday night, it was reported that the Lakers would be trading Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz for Patrick Beverley. Straight-up. No strings attached.
While there definitely are some long-term issues with how the Lakers have handled THT and what they could have done instead, this trade in a vacuum is a genius move by Rob Pelinka. While some fans may disagree because THT was viewed as a young asset, the fact of the matter is that the team will get far more out of Beverley than THT.
Horton-Tucker simply has not panned out like the Lakers would have hoped. The 2021-22 season was meant to be a blossoming year for the former second-round pick as the Lakers invested over $10 million per season into him. Instead, it was more of the same and the Lakers were left disappointed.
THT was one of the worst offensive players in the entire league and his defense did not nearly make up for it. All in all, there was one simple truth about Talen Horton-Tucker in Los Angeles:
Talen Horton-Tucker was never going to work in Los Angeles.
Yes, there is still some potential there for THT being a long wing that can play defense and contribute offensively but that potential was never going to blossom with the Lakers. A lot of fans forgot the fact that THT’s contract only lasted through the 2023-24 season, so there was a pretty good chance that he wouldn’t blossom until after he left LA.
Meanwhile, his value as a trade asset would have continued to deteriorate as it already has the last 18 months and Los Angeles would not have been able to get anything for him. The team would have been locked into his salary next season for a player who did not offer much value to contending status.
The Los Angeles Lakers are simply a better team after trading for Patrick Beverley.
There is far more work to be done for the Lakers but this is at least a step in the right direction. Los Angeles is showing a commitment to winning and in this trade, they are getting a solid defensive guard who can really help on the perimeter.
If the Lakers do indeed make follow-up moves then we could suddenly see a starting five that not only has Beverley in it but is good enough to contend for the NBA Championship. Rob Pelinka made a commitment to contending to LeBron James and this is following up on this commitment.
Even if THT ends up being a great rotational player in 4-5 years, Los Angeles will have no regrets as it was never going to happen in LA anyway. Beverley, meanwhile, can be part of something bigger this season.