The Los Angeles Lakers traded Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson for Patrick Beverley in a trade that is all-around solid for the purple and gold. Los Angeles gets better this season while also creating cap space for next summer by getting THT’s contract off the books.
Fans are also excited because this trade seemingly opens the door for another trade involving Russell Westbrook, which is the thing that most fans have wanted all offseason. We could see a much different Lakers team when the 2022-23 season starts that is also much better.
That being said, the current version of the Lakers before a potential Westbrook trade is still pretty bad, even with Beverley. In fact, comparing Beverley to the rest of the Lakers makes the team look even worse. It is pretty sad that the team brought in a guy who is not the most prolific three-point shooter and he is now the best shooter on the roster.
Patrick Beverley is a 37.8% career 3-point shooter.
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) August 25, 2022
That makes him the best shooter on the Lakers. The next highest career 3-point percentage on the team belongs to Kendrick Nunn at 36.4%
That is not good. While Beverley has a lot of potential as a three-point shooter and will likely shoot above his career average in LA, he should not be the best option you have. This is a reminder that this team has no shooting and while Beverley is a step in the right direction, more needs to be done.
Patrick Beverley could become the Lakers’ third-best three-point shooter if the team trades with the Indiana Pacers.
The most-talked-about Westbrook trade that seems like an inevitability at this point is flipping the former MVP to Indiana for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. Indiana likely doesn’t want to do the deal with only one pick attached and at the end of the day, the Lakers will probably end up sending two picks to offload Westbrook.
This is such a great fit for the team though so they should be more than willing to make this move. Hield is one of the most prominent three-point shooters in the sport while Turner is one of the best three-point shooting bigs.
All of a sudden the Lakers have a surplus of three-point shooting in the starting lineup with a marksman guard, a stretch five, a point guard who can hold his own and even LeBron James, who took the most threes per game of his career last season.
Lakers fans will roll on the floor at Kendrick Perkins’ wild prediction
The Los Angeles Lakers likely won't see Russell Westbrook again after the Patrick Beverley trade but some, including Kendrick Perkins, think otherwise.
That is the starting five that the Lakers should be looking to build. If the team instead simply tells Russell Westbrook to stay home and rolls out a starting five that has Beverley as the best three-point shooter then they are going to be in a lot of trouble.