Lakers News: Patrick Beverley Confident He Can Play With Russell Westbrook
Your Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves in a unique predicament. Last week, the club traded the future promise of 21-year-old wing Talen Horton-Tucker and, to a lesser extent, of 26-year-old forward Stanley Johnson, to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the win-now experience of veteran point guard Patrick Beverley. With the arrival of Beverley, the club has been dealt some positional redundancy, with $60.1 million in salary money committed to two veteran point guards on the wrong side of 30 between Beverley and incumbent starter Russell Westbrook.
At this point in their careers, Beverley is the better point guard, chiefly thanks to his ability to fit around starrier players and chip in with the kind of little things that lead to wins, namely versatile defense, three-point shooting and a decent handle.
Beverly should start. Westbrook and Beverley have had a well-documented and very public beef, ever since Westbrook got injured while being defended by Beverley in a playoff series between the former's Oklahoma City Thunder and the latter's Houston Rockets.
Westbrook, still a good rebounder and passer and an okay finisher, could be useful in a bench role, although he'd be insanely overpaid in such a capacity. The team is apparently exploring trades or sending the 6'3" UCLA product away from the team.
However, Beverley himself voiced his confidence that the duo could work together on Twitter earlier this week.
First, a little context: Marc Stein reported that the duo had been in touch since the trade first transpired, which in itself was a fairly surprising development. NBA personality Rob Perez voiced his apparent skepticism that a cooperative environment could be fostered with this odd couple, quote-tweeting Stein's report with a sarcastic "[S]ounds good" message, followed by an even more cynical "[W]ill pay a premium to watch these practices."
Beverley wasn't having it. In response to Perez's cynicism, here was his missive:
The 6'2" veteran clapped back at Perez, claiming that he (and, perhaps, Westbrook too?) was "excited" and "hungry" to compete with his new teammates. Even if training camp opens with both players still on the team, it would make sense to avoid any lineups where they overlap for too long.
