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The Los Angeles Lakers are bringing in Patrick Beverley via trade, and the polarizing guard might want to do some immediate fence-mending with Russell Westbrook.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Lakers are set to send Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Beverley, who will now join forces with one of his fiercest rivals in Westbrook.
The two have some notable heated moments over the years, with one of the most prominent being a critique from Westbrook on Beverley’s defense, saying he’s just running around.
“Pat Bev trick y’all, man, like he playing defense,” Westbrook said in November 2019 after his ex-teammate James Harden scored 47 points “He don’t guard nobody, man. It’s just running around, doing nothing. … All that commotion to get 47.”
Beverley took offense to those comments and said it hurt him in the long term.
“Coaching staffs, players, fans, they looked at me way different,” Beverley said on J.J. Redick’s “The Old Man and the Three” podcast. “I’m like, ‘What the f***?’ All because of what one person said, and that’s how the media is. If one person says one thing, that’s how they take it. And they take it just for that. People really looked at it like, ‘Yeah, maybe this m*********** don’t play defense.”
Expect ‘Awkward Interactions’ Between Westbrook, Beverley
Not everyone is confident that the Beverley-Westbrook dynamic can work given their history and their personalities. Neither is scared to speak his mind, and practices could get mighty testy.
Zach Harper of The Athletic wrote that he was entertained by the idea of the two pairing up but acknowledged that things could get awkward in a hurry if the Lakers don’t have a handle on it. Per Harper:
First and foremost, putting Beverley and Russell Westbrook on the same team is objectively hilarious. Westbrook and Beverley have a long history of hating each other. Do you know how much fire has to be behind that hatred for it to last years and years, no matter which team you’re on and which team the other guy is on, especially when you face each other only a handful of times each season? Assuming Westbrook is still with the team at the start of the season, we’re going to see some awkward interactions between these two on the court, and someone’s act isn’t going to vibe with the other.
Harper gave the move an “instant grade” of a B, citing Beverley’s defensive prowess and experience as a key role player.
Westbrook Trade Would Make Relationship Moot Point
There is the chance that Westbrook gets traded before having to suit up alongside Beverley, making speculation about their relationship as teammates a moot point.
The Lakers have been unable to find a trade partner for Westbrook that wouldn’t involve attaching key assets. Westbrook is due more than $47 million next year and his debut year in purple and gold proved the former MVP is a clunky fit in Los Angeles next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game as the Lakers stumbled and missed the postseason.
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