Did the Lakers do the right thing in trading Horton-Tucker for Beverley?

The Los Angeles Lakers made the acquisition of Patrick Beverley official, sending the contracts of Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz. This change is a bid to strengthen the roster for the 2022-23 NBA season, but at the same time it seems to contradict management’s purported intention to keep its best young players.

The particular case of Horton-Tucker is the one that has generated the most criticism, since in the 2021 offseason they even put aside the possibility of staying with Kyle Lowry due to the refusal to deliver the 21-year-old forward, whom Rob Pelinka called a fundamental part of the organization’s future.

Although it is true that it was not the best season for Horton-Tucker, averaging only 10 points in 26 minutes of play and maintaining a poor efficiency of 41% in field goals, it was only the third year in the league and suddenly went from being ” the future” of the team to a piece of change for a role player, it seems something really incredible.

Among the positives of the agreement is the fact that Beverley has only one year of contract for $13 million, while Horton-Tucker has two remaining from his recent renewal, which could mean $21 million if he does not make use of his player option in 2023-24.