NBA Latest Rumours: Insider reveals the real reason why Lakers finally let go of Thalen Horton Tucker

League sources say that the Lakers were clearly resistant to the idea of swapping Talen Horton-Tucker for Beverley when the teams began discussing a potential swap in July, owing to the Lakers' desire to be younger, faster and more athletic this season. Six weeks later at least two things changed: 1) It became apparent that a trade for Kyrie Irving would not be available in the near term after Kevin Durant rescinded his trade demand in Brooklyn; 2) LeBron signed a max contract extension with the Lakers on Aug. 18 that firmly steered the franchise into an urgent win-now mode. Swapping Horton-Tucker for the 34-year-old point guard certainly qualifies as a win-now move for the Lakers, but Beverley has to stay on the floor and deliver to validate the decision to abandon Horton-Tucker when they did. Beverley has appeared in only 95 games over the past two seasons, while Horton-Tucker had previously been held out Kyle Lowry trade talks with Toronto at the 2021 trade deadline and was subsequently re-signed by the Lakers during the 2021 offseason at the expense of Alex Caruso.