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Beverley to Lakers for THT and Stanley Johnson

Eh. . . would’ve preferred seeing Beverley included in a bigger trade with a bigger payout, but this isn’t a bad move. Personally think THT gets a chance to start and then gets flipped at the deadline. Don’t see this as a long-term move.
 
Jesus, the TWolves schedule is a joke early:
Thunder
Jazz
@Thunder
Spurs
Spurs
Lakers
@Spurs

The Spurs three times in seven days is super odd.
 
This makes a lot of sense from the Lakers perspective, which makes it curious why we couldn't at least get a second thrown in? Ainge going soft in his old age?
Because the Jazz are keeping Mitchell. Have to trade vets off. THT fits the profile of a guy like Smart (to a degree) so it makes sense Ainge likes him.
 
Spurs
Spurs
I think the NBA should do more of this. They did some during the covid seasons, but playing the same team twice (probably in three days) in the same city is really a quite rational thing to do. Limits travel quite a lot, after all.
 
If I'm reading tea leaves:

• Assuming Beverley didn't have value elsewhere, this is good for Utah. The Art of the M4 Sherman in the initial stages is to get whatever assets, bring in young players, see what you have to work with, and rebuild based around those initial pieces. THT is still 21 and Stanley is 25 (dude's been in the league forever). If THT develops, cool. We got his Bird Rights. If not, no harm. With cap increases, his hit is minimal and he's an expiring season after next if he opts into his PO. Beverley would have left after this season anyway.

• Also get this from LA's perspective. Beverley can help them quite a bit. Fit will be... interesting with Westbrook, but I'm thinking there's another deal on the horizon for him. Else Lakers have a side contract for a reality show for Discovery+.

• I'm also guessing a Donovan deal is far enough along for Ainge to pull the trigger on this. I don't think there's much question Beverley would have helped with a few issues Utah had last year.
 
He is a good fit for sure but he doesn't solve their spacing issues all that much and they lost 2 rotational defenders even if THT sucked as a fit.

You can wait out a little bit, I just don't think it changes much. Anyways, THT is as good a prospect as any.
Wut? Bev is their best non-Lebron shooter… he’s also their best perimeter defender as of right now.
 
On a more serious note - this is a bit of a let down, not because I hate the value, but because it probably eliminates our ability to trade for Westbrook and get those LAL picks. But maybe that option was never on the table to begin with... Maybe LAL indeed loves IND's offer much better.

THT is a good shot to take on a young player, but if he does pan out - he opts out next year and we have no control over where he goes and if he stays or not. And if he doesn't improve and continues to be meh, he picks his option and is negative for us. Meh! I really feel we could have done better with this Beverley contract.
This is no way eliminates a Westbrook deal for Utah.
 
If we got THT and NAW at the start of last season we all would have been excited about their potential. Both had super down 3rd years. Hopefully they can both bounce back with lowered expectations
 
If we got THT and NAW at the start of last season we all would have been excited about their potential. Both had super down 3rd years. Hopefully they can both bounce back with lowered expectations
Exactly. Assuming Don's dealt, this is the ideal situation for a young player needing to develop. No expectations, good developmental staff, forgiving media market, little locker room drama, and plenty of playing time.
 
we don't need cap space
We don’t need to waste it either. We traded a first to dump Favs when he had 2/20M left on his deal and got zero good players back. They dumped THT and got a player they really needed… Bev will start for them… he quite literally might be their third best player right now.

This was a down payment.
 
We don’t need to waste it either. We traded a first to dump Favs when he had 2/20M left on his deal and got zero good players back. They dumped THT and got a player they really needed… Bev will start for them… he quite literally might be their third best player right now.

This was a down payment.

We will not be remotely close to the favors situation in the next two years
 
People always say this despite how often it's not really the case. If it's a cog for a larger Westbrook deal, cool. But if not, I'm fine with the deal.
I really can’t think of one time anyone has ever said this. It’s a very unique set of circumstances.
 
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