Report: Pat Beverley Traded to Lakers; Jazz Get Talen Horton-Tucker, Stanley Johnson

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to acquire point guard Patrick Beverley from the Utah Jazz in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday night.

Wojnarowski noted the deal is expected to be finalized on Thursday, and he added: "Beverley was eager to join the Lakers in a trade, sources said, and thrilled to learn of the impending deal."

It was a short stay in Utah for Beverley, who arrived in early July as part of the blockbuster deal sending center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 34-year-old from Chicago is coming off a 2021-22 season with the Wolves in which he averaged 9.2 points, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals across 58 appearances.

He graded out positively at both ends of the floor to rank 61st among all NBA players in FiveThirtyEight's WAR metric (5.4).

Beverley told KRIV's Mark Berman getting dealt to the Jazz didn't catch him off guard, as he's become accustomed to changing teams.

"Surprised? No, not in this business. Nah, you can't be surprised," he said. "Understood it. Never personal, always business in this business. We did some great things in Minnesota. We kind of revamped the environment there. We kind of gave the fans something to be happy about."

Beverley, a 2009 second-round pick, started his pro career in Europe before making his NBA debut with the Houston Rockets during the 2012-13 season. After five years with Houston, he spent four with the Los Angeles Clippers and one with the Wolves.

The University of Arkansas product has averaged 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 526 career games. He's often been tasked with guarding the opponent's top guard scorer, highlighted by earning NBA All-Defensive First Team honors in 2016-17.

Beverley represents a low-risk addition for the Lakers. He's a consistently reliable defender, which helps offset some offensive slumps for the career 41.4 percent shooter, and he's on an expiring one-year, $13 million contract, so there's no long-term investment.

He should slot in as the chief backup to Russell Westbrook following his move to L.A. The team's backcourt defense should be tremendous when he's on the floor with Austin Reaves.