The Los Angeles Lakers began working on secondary trade scenarios this week after the Kyrie Irving deal never materialized by acquiring the scrappy Patrick Beverly from the Utah Jazz for Talon Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson.
The significance of this deal can't be understated considering who's presently on the Lakers roster. Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverly flat out don't like one another and Thursday's trade could be an indication that the Lakers are likely done with the Westbrook experiment.
According to multiple sources around the league, the Beverly trade signals the Lakers are actively looking to trade Westbrook before training camp or will have him sit out until a deal is struck. Jovan Buha of The Athletic makes the same point as he notes, the trade "makes it more likely that Westbrook will be off the active roster by the start of training camp, either through a trade or the team sending him home a la the Rockets with John Wall last season."
Source: Bleacherreport.com
