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SALT LAKE CITY — A Jazz guard is at long last on the move. No, not that Jazz guard.
Patrick, we hardly knew thee.
The Donovan Mitchell trade speculation continues, but the Jazz have reached a deal for one of their other many guards on the roster.
The Utah Jazz have agreed to a deal to send veteran point guard Patrick Beverley to the Los Angeles Lakers for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson, according to a report from ESPN. No picks will be coming to Utah as part of the deal.
An ESPN report said the deal is expected to be completed on Thursday.
And thus ends the guard's short stay as a member of the Jazz. Beverley was traded to Utah from Minnesota as part of the Rudy Gobert blockbuster deal, and therefore never played a game for the Jazz.
Horton-Tucker, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, is the prize of the trade for the Jazz. The 21 year old showed enough promise to earn a three-year deal worth north of $30 million from the Lakers before last season. But he didn't take the leap the Lakers had hoped in his time there.
Horton-Tucker averaged 10 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season, but his development seemed to stall. He made 26.9% from 3-point range last season — which was the lowest percentage for a player with at least three attempts per game.
Horton-Tucker, who was the youngest player in the 2019 NBA draft as a second-round pick, will turn 22 in November.
After playing just six games in 2019-20, Horton-Tucker made significant strides during his sophomore campaign. After averaging 9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in his second year, the Lakers chose to sign him over defensive specialist Alex Caruso, banking on the young guard's continued improvement.
Instead, he saw his minutes going to Malik Monk and undrafted rookie Austin Reaves.
The Jazz will now see if Will Hardy can bring out the potential that the young guard had previously shown.
Johnson, 26, is a former lottery pick that semi-revitalized his career last season with the Lakers; he started 27 games and averaged 6.7 points. Last season, he signed a 10-day deal with the Chicago Bulls as a COVID replacement player; he did the same with the Lakers. Johnson left a strong enough impression to get a deal for the rest of the season.
He'll be under contract for $2.35 million this season.
While not a strong outside shooter, the 6-foot-6 forward gives the Jazz some much-needed size on the wing and helps Utah balance out its roster a bit.
As for Beverley, he'll get his wish to play for a contending team. While Beverley has said since the trade he's willing to report to Utah, he made it clear he preferred to play for a team that was at least trying to win a title this season. Are the Jazz trying to do that? It sure doesn't seem like it.
So Beverley gets his preferred outcome and the Jazz get a young player that could become a rotation piece.
