LA Lakers Rumors Roundup: Lakers could have acquired more players from the Utah Jazz, Talen Horton-Tucker did not have many friends in the Lakers locker room and more | August 27, 2022
The LA Lakers acquired Patrick Beverley from the Utah Jazz earlier this week. Beverley will add energy to the team with his intensity and stifling defense. However, the latest reports suggest that the Lakers could have acquired more players from Utah.
Meanwhile, Talen Horton-Tucker was traded to the Jazz as part of the Beverley deal. Horton-Tucker failed to live up to his potential with the Lakers due to several factors, one of which is lack of support in the locker room.
Here is the latest LA Lakers rumors roundup for Aug. 27 brought to you by Sportskeeda.
LA Lakers could have acquired more players from the Utah Jazz
The LA Lakers sent Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz to acquire Patrick Beverley. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Lakers could have instead been part of a three-team deal with the New York Knicks and the Jazz.
The rumored structure of the deal had Russell Westbrook heading to the Jazz, with the Knicks getting Donovan Mitchell. The Lakers would have ended with Jordan Clarkson, Bojan Bogdanovic and Malik Beasley. But since the Lakers acquired Beverley, any possibility of a three-team deal was put to bed.
Clarkson spent the first three-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Lakers. He has become one of the best players off the bench, winning the Sixth Man of the Year award last year. Meanwhile, Bogdanovic and Beasley could have provided the Lakers with shooting and additional scoring.
Talen Horton-Tucker did not have many friends in the Lakers locker room
Talen Horton-Tucker will play for the Utah Jazz next season. The Lakers traded Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to acquire Patrick Beverley. Horton-Tucker must have felt the pressure last season since the Lakers basically decided to choose him over Alex Caruso.
Alex Caruso flourished for the Chicago Bulls, while Horton-Tucker was not nearly as good. Chris Vernon of The Ringer reported on Thursday that Horton-Tucker's development stalled due to "being on an island" in the Lakers locker room. Due to the age of the team's roster, Horton-Tucker was not close to a lot of his teammates.
"When I talked to some people connected to Horton-Tucker, he was kind of on an island," Vernon said. "In the sense of he's like the only young guy. He didn't have buddies to go run around with. This is an old team with a bunch of veteran guys. He didn't have a bunch of friends."
In Utah, Horton-Tucker will get a fresh start on a rebuilding team. If the Jazz end up trading Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic, he'll be among the primary options on offense.
Shams Charania says there's no concerted effort to trade Russell Westbrook
The acquisition of Patrick Beverley gives the LA Lakers more reason to trade Russell Westbrook. Beverley and Westbrook do not see eye-to-eye and have produced a lot of memorable moments as rivals. Technically, the two players can play together, but the Lakers might not want to risk it.
Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported on Friday that the Lakers will likely trade Westbrook before training camp. However, Shams Charania believes that the Lakers are not in a hurry to trade Westbrook. Charania said on "The Rich Eisen Show" that the team could take their time to find the right deal for the former MVP.
"I would expect the Lakers to continue to look at the marketplace to make their team better," Charania said. "I don't think there's a concerted effort to moving Russell Westbrook. I think the concerted effort is can we make a deal with certain players on the roster with the picks that we have to improve this team."