Lakers should have traded this player instead of Stanley Johnson to Jazz
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers made the first of (hopefully) several trades before the 2022-23 begins by trading Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz for Patrick Beverley. This was a savvy move by the Lakers as they not only get better with Beverley but save money for next season as well.
Beverley adds a defensive presence to the Lakers while also being a better offensive piece than THT. As limited as Beverley is offensively, THT is even more limited as an offensive player at this point in time. All in all, the Lakers got better.
If we were to nitpick the trade, though, there is one part of the deal that could have been different — the inclusion of Stanley Johnson. Los Angeles had to include someone else in the deal to make the money work but that someone should not have been Johnson.
The Los Angeles Lakers should have traded Wenyen Gabriel instead of Stanley Johnson.
At the end of the day, both Johnson and Wenyen Gabriel are back-end rotation players and it is not going to make-or-break the Lakers’ season that they chose Gabriel over Johnson. But with how the roster is constructed, including potential future moves, it makes a lot more sense to keep Johnson over Gabriel.
Johnson is a switchable wing that might be limited offensively but can provide above-average defense on the other end. Wenyen Gabriel is more of a frontcourt player, filling in as the backup four and a small-ball five option.
Gabriel is not a switchable wing in the same way that Johnson is and the Lakers are going to need more switchable wings than they are someone of Gabriel’s caliber. First of all, the Lakers just traded a perimeter defender in THT that could switch on some two guards and small forwards. Johnson could have helped some of that missing defensive dynamic.
Second of all, there is a good chance that the Lakers now trade Russell Westbrook and picks for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. The addition of Turner would make Gabriel even more redundant as the team would have both Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones coming off the bench.
Los Angeles does not need Bryan, Jones and Gabriel coming off the bench next season.
Finally, and perhaps the most compelling reason, is the potential of adding Cole Swider to the roster. Swider thrived in the Summer League and would add a nice shooting dynamic to the front court. He has a bit more versatility than Gabriel as well.
While he is not a switchable wing like Johnson, Swider can go out and defend the perimeter more than Gabriel can. When it really boils down to it, it is hard to find a role for Gabriel on this team while Johnson’s role is easier to find because of what he can do defensively.
For that reason, it should have been Gabriel, not Johnson, included in the trade. Utah probably wanted Johnson because he is the better player but at the end of the day, I doubt that would have been the sticking point of a potential deal.