The Minnesota Timberwolves shocked the NBA world when they landed Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz in a blockbuster deal featuring several players and a bevy of draft picks.
The move came days after Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, and after seeing the haul Utah received it stands to reason that Brooklyn will wait for a similar package before trading their superstar. From the Jazz’s perspective, it signals their intent to rebuild from the ground up which means Donovan Mitchell could also be on his way out soon.
In that vein, there are reports that Utah is looking to move all its veteran players to help jumpstart a possible rebuild. One popular name is Patrick Beverley, and while the Los Angeles Lakers might have interest in the point guard they are reportedly not willing to put up Talen Horton-Tucker in a deal, via NBA insider Marc Stein:
While they continue to register the league’s only tangible trade interest in Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving, it’s likewise true that the Lakers have prioritized adding speed, youth and athleticism to the roster. As such, according to one source familiar with the team’s thinking, there is no push forthcoming from the Lakers’ side to swap Talen Horton-Tucker (as rumored) for Patrick Beverley, who ranks as one of Utah’s very available veterans alongside Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanović and Jordan Clarkson. The Jazz acquired Beverley and Malik Beasley in the Rudy Gobert trade and have made Beasley available as well.
Beverley would make sense for the Lakers who could always use more perimeter defense, but swapping him for Horton-Tucker would run counter to their approach of getting younger. The young guard showed some promise down the stretch of the 2021-22 season, and that might be enough to hold onto him in this scenario.
On the flip side, with Kyrie Irving still looming over their heads, perhaps L.A. is holding onto Horton-Tucker for a trade with Brooklyn. For now, all possibilities have to be considered until more news breaks.
Patrick Beverley names LeBron James as superstar he’d want to play with
Beverley has certainly had his fair share of run-ins with LeBron James, with some sort of antic or situation occurring when the two play. Despite that, Beverley named James as the one superstar he’d like to play with the most if given a choice.
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