The Loss of Pat Beverley

[Lipoli390]

I'm done complaining about the Gobert deal and I'm excited about the season ahead. But I'll note that most of the criticism of the deal from me and others revolved around losing all that future draft capital. What we haven't discussed much is the loss of Pat Beverley. I think that's a huge loss to the team. And as we move into a full win-now mode, it's time to focus on how the Wolves will overcome that loss.

He played in 58 regular season games and started in 54 of them last season. While his scoring and shooting efficiency wasn't up to his usual standards, there's no question that he was a critical cog in the Wolves success last season. Some of this critical contribution shows up in his stats, including 4.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 25 minutes per game. But as we all know, much of what Pat provided doesn't show up in his box score numbers. He brought a tremendous, disruptive defensive intensity this teams has never had before. And it wasn't just his individual defensive contribution; it was the contagious effect he had on his teammates. He's a force of nature who brought a swagger and created a culture that took what had been a terrible defensive team and made it respectable on that end of the floor. He took Edwards from a rookie who seemed disinterested in defense as he was in college to a player who seemed to pride himself on defense. He covered for DLO's innate defensive weakness.

I know we'll have Gobert inside protecting the rim. But it won't be enough for this team to take 2 steps forward with rim protection and a step or more back defending the point of attack. Edwards will take Beverley's spot and McDaniels will take Edwards' former spot at the 3. McDaniels is a good defender, but he's not Pat Beverley harassing and disrupting ball-handlers out on the perimeter. And we don't know whether Edwards will maintain the same level of defensive intensity without Pat around to push and inspire him. Beverley's absence on the floor will definitely be felt in the absence on the floor both directly and I think indirectly. The question is how much of a negative impact will his absence have on the Wolves defense and what can the Wolves do to compensate for the loss beyond simply relying on Gobert as the last line of defense in the paint. If the answer is just Gobert, then the Wolves are the Utah Jazz and that wasn't the goal of the Gobert trade.

[Coolbreeze44]

I hate to play the devil's advocate with you here Lip, but the loss of Beverly is pretty minor. He's going to be another year older and will probably play less games than even last season. Plus we have some young guys who need to get their chance, and Beverly being gone will help that. I'm not the biggest Beverly fan. He's the guy we've all played pickup ball with who is a complete ass on the floor, but then schmoozes up to everyone after the game trying to disguise the fact he was a dick all game long. I'm not going to miss him.

[Lipoli390]

Hey Cool - I thought you might be one of the first to respond having seen some of your prior posts on Beverley. :). No doubt he's a dick, but I like having him as our dick. This team was way too nice and lacked any swagger before Beverley arrived. We needed some nasty and swagger on the roster and that's what Beverley provided. And he also provided great high-energy disruptive defense at the point of attack. It's even more problematic given the loss of Vando as well. We not only lose a lot high-intensity defense at the point of attack, we're also losing the only two guys on this team who had a good nose for the ball. They were the guys getting to loose balls and helping maintain or obtain possessions. It seems the teams that get to loose balls are the ones that win. Steph Curry is a great example of a player with a great nose for the ball. His talent for getting to loose balls made him Golden State's leading rebounding in a number playoff games this year.

But I get where you're coming from. I didn't like Beverley until he came here, although I always found him entertaining and appreciated his high-intensity effort. I think this team will miss him a lot, although I agree with you that his lack of durability is an issue that will likely get worse as he moves further into his 30s. Nevertheless, with Beverley, Vando and Okogie gone, I don't see anyone on this roster we can count on to play high-intensity defense consistently at the point of attack like Beverley and Vando and I don't see anyone with the sort of nose for the ball those two guys had. I think DLO's defensive weakness will be exposed as well. I don't think we should underestimate what we're losing and expect Gobert to pick up all the slack.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I think we'll miss some of Patrick Beverley's energy, leadership, grit, and veteran savvy, but overall I think the Timberwolves have only gotten better, bigger, and more athletic.

Beverley's role as an on-ball defender and floor spacer has been replaced by Jaden McDaniels in the starting lineup, whose length and agility allows him to defend more positions than Beverley. It remains to be seen if McDaniels is up to that task AND do so without fouling, but I think he'll take a moderate leap this season. Not to mention, he'll have Rudy Gobert behind him if and when he makes a mistake or gets beat.

Speaking of which, the Gobert trade was a calculated gamble on the development of Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Jaylen Nowell, and to some degree Jordan McLaughlin. If they're able to take that next step, and I'm confident that all four are plenty capable, this team won't feel the effects of losing Beverley. He served his purpose here last season and helped bring credibility back to Minnesota by making the playoffs, but he'll be another year older and likely another half-step slower. I'd also be more concerned if Beverley was traded without getting back a defensive presence, but Gobert is an all-time great in that regard. The Timberwolves should be more than fine.

[Q-is-here]

Beverley was a culture changer and was massively important to our success last year. It wasn't just his play on the floor, but the fact he cajoled better play from others in a way Jimmy Butler was unable to do when he was the vet team leader. He also took the spotlight and heat off of others with some of his antics, as he relished confrontation whereas KAT, for example, gets all discombobulated by it.

Absent the trade for Gobert, I would have loved to have PBev for one more year. And then I was hoping by then the culture shift would be internalized and he could move on. But alas, TC pushed his chips in for Rudy....

Who is going to be our veteran emotional leader this year? Is it Gobert himself perhaps?

[Phenom]

I would have preferred to have him one more season with this core but the salary just wasn't there to make the trade so I'm good with it. Honestly if the players from last season can't take anything they got from him last season then it maybe wasn't that valuable.

They may have fed off his defensive energy but the Wolves also brought in Gobert, SloMo and Rivers who won't need to have that kind of influence and already understand what it takes on the defensive end.

It will really come down to Kat, Ant and Dlo and their defense and I tend to think they all understand what they need to do and what they can after last season.

[Monster]

While listening to the podcast someone posted about Austin Rivers I was thinking he might be a pretty good vet to be around Edwards. I think Edwards was going to become a good player regardless but he has been fortunate to have Rubio his rookie year and then Beverly last year. Rivers is a guy that was supposed to be really good (top HS player) and then has had to work hard to stay in the league. He said he had to learn to play defense and be a role player to even get minutes. He also has some edge to him. I'm not suggesting he will be the guy to replace Beverly but I think he could be a guy that could help some of the young guards while also being someone they have to compete against for minutes.

https://www.theringer.com/2022/2/4/22917081/in-or-out-on-top-nba-players-austin-rivers-on-jokic-and-his-own-ups-and-downs

[FNG]

Beverley was a culture changer and was massively important to our success last year. It wasn't just his play on the floor, but the fact he cajoled better play from others in a way Jimmy Butler was unable to do when he was the vet team leader. He also took the spotlight and heat off of others with some of his antics, as he relished confrontation whereas KAT, for example, gets all discombobulated by it.

Absent the trade for Gobert, I would have loved to have PBev for one more year. And then I was hoping by then the culture shift would be internalized and he could move on. But alas, TC pushed his chips in for Rudy....

Who is going to be our veteran emotional leader this year? Is it Gobert himself perhaps?

This has been my thought (hope?). Gobert could fill that role, albeit in a much quieter, mature fashion. There's no question in my mind that PatBev helped change the nature of our team last year, but he also was half of perhaps the least efficient scoring backcourt in the NBA last season. There's no question that our starting lineup is much improved this year. I liked that PatBev would not allow his teammates to be lazy in defense...my god, look at the impact he had on DLo. I expect that Gobert will have the same intolerance. We are still a young team, and I think our young guys will look up to a vet like Gobert similar to how they looked up to PatBev...but perhaps in a healthier way.

Lip, I hear your "Yeah, he's a dick, but he's our dick" take", and I've often felt that way about local players (AJ Pierzinski for instance). But oddly, I actually had the opposite reaction to PatBev, despite the obvious positive impact he had on our defense. I've always liked Pat and his Mr. 94 feet bit. But at times last season I saw him as too much of a self-promoter always concerned about his brand. He rubbed me the wrong way when he skipped a week of training camp so he could attend Milan Fashion Week. Really, Pat? And then at times I had to turn away from the TV screen when his act got too tiring for my taste. My conclusion? Thanks for doing what you did for us, Pat, but don't let the door hit you on the way out.

My biggest concern remains the same: can Rudy inspire the same interest in defense in DLo that Pat did? We can only hope...

[Q-is-here]

FNG, that's a fair take on Beverley. I agree that he's jumped the shark a bit and as he ages and misses more games he'll eventually become a bit of a caricature as he tries to over-compensate. That's not a good thing. I thought we could use one more year of his emotional leadership and then it would be a good time for him to move on. It will be interesting to see how he does for Utah this upcoming season (that's if he's not traded).

[AbeVigodaLive]

FNG, that's a fair take on Beverley. I agree that he's jumped the shark a bit and as he ages and misses more games he'll eventually become a bit of a caricature as he tries to over-compensate. That's not a good thing. I thought we could use one more year of his emotional leadership and then it would be a good time for him to move on. It will be interesting to see how he does for Utah this upcoming season (that's if he's not traded).

Yep. Pretty much my take. And... he's DEFINITELY getting out of Utah.

Utah is in in full-tank mode. Beverley would be a nightmare on such a team at this point in his career. I think he was a positive player last year, but I think that act would wear thinner and thinner as time progressed.



[Note: On the Gobert trade talk banter, I'm probably most concerned/frustrated/miffed/upset/confused that the Timberwolves brass were basically bidding against the Jazz running it back... when others were already pushing the idea that the Jazz were in full tank mode. Ainge's history and his hiring an unknown and unproven coach for FIVE years should have been telltale signs in hindsight, no?]