Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry was trending on Twitter following the Los Angeles Lakers trade for guard Patrick Beverley.
After the Lakers shipped guard Talen Horton-Tucker to the Utah Jazz as part of the Beverley deal, the team started catching some flak for its asset management. Los Angeles infamously refused to trade Horton-Tucker for Lowry at the trade deadline in the 2020-21 season.
“Multiple sources told The Athletic that the Lakers and [Toronto] Raptors discussed a trade that would have sent both members of Los Angeles’ starting backcourt, Dennis Schröder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and likely some draft compensation to Toronto for Lowry,” The Athletic’s Bill Oram and Jovan Buha wrote back in March of 2021. “Throughout Thursday morning, sources said, the sticking point was the inclusion of Talen Horton-Tucker.
“The same sources said that, Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ vice president of basketball operations, insisted that price was too high for the 35-year-old Lowry, and that he was not willing to trade Horton-Tucker, the 20-year-old combo guard who has emerged as a valuable rotation player for the Lakers in his second season.”
Reminder that the Lakers refused to include THT in a trade for Kyle Lowry. pic.twitter.com/IRfMw4OOaA
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 25, 2022
Never forget when the Lakers refused to trade THT in a Kyle Lowry deal.
Now, they end up settling for Patrick Beverley. pic.twitter.com/v9ZLEPNbNJ
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) August 25, 2022
Rather than trade Horton-Tucker for Lowry, an NBA champion and six-time All-Star, Los Angeles ended up with Beverley, who is a solid player but doesn’t have nearly as many accolades.
Essentially, the Lakers overvalued Horton-Tucker back in the 2020-21 season, and they unfortunately sold way lower on him than they could have.
THT was off the table for Kyle Lowry but traded for Pat Beverley. Truly embarrassing
— BJ Metta (@bj_metta) August 25, 2022
The Beverley move has left some wondering whether or not the Lakers are going to make another move this offseason to upgrade their roster.
Not sure what the logic is with this trade. Kinda weird, but is weird the new norm for the Lakers?
Went from Lowry for THT to Beverley for THT AND Stanley Johnson?
Hope this isn't their "Big" move…
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) August 25, 2022
It was reported today that Los Angeles is still looking to move Russell Westbrook ahead of training camp, the guard the team ended up with the following offseason after refusing to give up Horton-Tucker for Lowry.
17 months ago, the Lakers refused to include Talen Horton-Tucker in a trade for Kyle Lowry. Life comes at you fast.
— Zach Kram (@zachkram) August 25, 2022
Lowry ended up with the Heat in a sign-and-trade deal with the Toronto Raptors last offseason. The Heat moved on from promising young big man Precious Achiuwa in the deal, but Lowry helped lead Miami to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season.
Lowry took a bit of a step back as a scorer last season, averaging just 13.4 points per game, but he is a proven playmaker and a leader for the Heat in the backcourt. If he continues to put up solid assist numbers (7.5 per game last season) and shoot well from beyond the arc, the Heat should be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference once again in the 2022-23 campaign.
