Lakers finalize a trade to send Tallinn Horton Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Jazz for Patrick Beverly, report says

The Los Angeles Lakers A business deal that will send Tallinn Horton Tucker and Stanley Johnson to . is expected to be completed Utah Jazz vs. Patrick Beverly, According to Adrian Voinarowski. Neither team will be involved in the deal.

Beverley was distributed to Jazz from Minnesota Timberwolves Earlier this summer in a Rudi Goubert blockbuster trade. But with the jazz rebuilding set in motion—Donovan Mitchell may be traded at some point this season as well—Beverly was a prime candidate to be redirected to another team.

Beverly, a veteran and one of the toughest outer periphery defenders in the league, makes the most sense on this Lakers roster. The Lakers had all kinds of problems last season as they finished 33-49 and missed the playoffs, but few were greater than their inability to stop anyone; They allowed 112.8 points per 100 possessions, which was 21 in the league. Some of that was due to injuries and some of it was poor roster construction, but no matter where you want to put most of the blame, the bottom line is that they weren’t good enough defensively.

Beverly won’t solve all of their problems, but alone it will make them stronger and better on the defensive side of the ball. He’s also a reliable 3-point shooter – 38.5 percent in catch-and-take attempts last season – who can help clear the ground around LeBron James and provide some extra playmaking. Although not the most exciting addition, it is the kind of solid that the Lakers missed last season.

For much of the summer, the league was in limbo while waiting for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to settle. With these two players now apparently remaining in Brooklyn, it will be interesting to see if the proverbial dam breaks and more moves will follow this Beverly trade.

The Lakers’ desire to send in Russell Westbrook is no secret, and now that Beverly is in town, they have someone who can replace him in the starting line-up. Of course, to do that they would have to find another team willing to take on Westbrook and that has proven difficult so far. Still, this is a situation that should be watched closely over the next few weeks if more dominoes start to fall.

There isn’t much to discuss on the Utah side of things. Danny Ainge started to rip with Gobert’s trade and there was no reason to hold on to Beverley while they join the bottom of the race in favor of Victor Wembanyama. They’ll take a look at another young Horton-Tucker player who has shown some glimmers as an interesting defensive role player but hasn’t been at all consistent on the offensive end. If they can develop it into a part of their essence in the future, that’s great; If not, then no big deal.