Timberwolves

The Wolves Could Bring Back Pat Bev If They Wanted To

Photo Credit: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

Patrick Beverley and the Minnesota Timberwolves parted ways just over five months ago. While they may have received a three-time Defensive Player of the Year in return for the veteran guard, Timberwolves fans still miss the fiery edge Beverley brought to the team. That’s for good reason; Pat Bev joined a Minnesota team and fanbase that didn’t know what to expect heading into the 2021 season. But he made an everlasting impression during his short 61-game span with the team.

The buzz and excitement surrounding the Timberwolves haven’t been the same since Beverley departed from the Twin Cities, though. The Wolves own a 13-15 record, 11th in the Western Conference. Minnesota wouldn’t make the Play-In Tournament if the season were to end today. That’s not to say that if Pat Bev was still on the roster, things would be much different.

At the same time last season, Minnesota’s record was identical to what it is now.

However, Minnesota had much loftier goals and expectations heading into this season. We expected to see the Wolves struggle out of the gates. However, things aren’t trending in the right direction as we may have hoped to see over a quarter of the way in.

Patience is key when dealing with a struggling team. Still, some changes may need to be made to rectify what has been an inadequate start to the year, and that may mean bringing back Mr. 94 Feet to Minneapolis.

“Should Beverley ultimately get moved to a rebuilding situation like the Pistons, the grizzled guard has a desire to return to Minnesota, sources said, should he reach free agency via a buyout,” Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported.

The Los Angeles Lakers have had an abysmal start to their season, and they are 11-16, immediately behind the Wolves in the Western Conference standings. L.A.’s depth has been their biggest flaw thus far. After LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, their talent level falls off a cliff. Despite not having adequate pieces to deal with, the Lakers are looking to be one of the more aggressive teams ahead of the trade deadline as they look to fill out their roster.

Los Angeles’ primary focus is to potentially deal Kendrick Nunn, Beverley, and a protected first-round pick in hopes of acquiring a savvy vet forward. Bojan Bogdanovic’s name has been linked to the Lakers. If LA trades Beverley to a rebuilding team, the 34-year-old guard likely will want them to move him to a playoff-contending team or buy his contract out.

“I got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I got Montrezl Harrell, I got Anthony Edwards, I got D’Angelo Russell, I got Karl-Anthony Towns, I got Jaylen Nowell, I got Naz Reid, I got Jaden McDaniels.” said Beverley when asked who his “little bros” are in the league.

Pat Bev truly loved it in Minnesota, so much so that he even considered retiring after getting the call that he was being dealt to the Utah Jazz. Beverley took everybody on the Wolves’ roster under his wing despite only being with the Wolves for one season.

“It was a vibe,” said Bev on his time with the Wolves. “When I got there, we won five games in a row, and Jaden McDaniels comes up to me like “man, I ain’t never won five games in a row,” and I was like, man, don’t worry about it. We gon’ win five more. We go through a streak where we won five games in a row, I don’t know like 3-4 times. When I first got there, I told ‘em we was goin’ to the playoffs – and they believed it.”

Despite Beverley’s “desire” to return to Minnesota, the stars would have to align perfectly for him to wind up back in the Twin Cities.

The Wolves roster is currently capped at 15 guys. The only way Beverley signs back with the Timberwolves is if Tim Connelly waives one of the four players on non-guaranteed deals – that includes Reid, Nowell, Austin Rivers, and Nathan Knight.

Reid, Nowell, and Rivers have had a sizable impact at different parts of the season thus far. Knight is the only player who isn’t receiving rotational/impactful playing time – leading me to believe that he would most likely be the odd man out.

Connelly wasn’t here during the Wolves’ Cinderella run to the playoffs last season, so why would he want to bring back a 34-year-old guard who’s putting up abysmal stats this season?

Pat Bev is averaging 4.6 points per game this season on only 30% from the floor and 25% from three – all career lows. It’s evident that Beverley just doesn’t fit with L.A.’s system offensively, despite the intangibles he brings on defense. He has been a liability for the Lakers.

The odds of Beverley winding up back in Minneapolis may not be great. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t wonder what it would be like to have Mr. 94 feet back in the Twin Cities. Furthermore, this may be Connelly’s first season here, but if he were to take the time to look back on last season’s positives, he’d see why all Timberwolves fans (including myself) loved Beverley so much.

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Photo Credit: Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports

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