NBA PM: Beverley Wants to Instill New Culture With Clippers

The impact of the Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas trade will be felt for years to come. Both teams can look at this as a turning point for their franchises and for now, each team must hope the risk will be worth the reward. The current NBA is a point guard’s league. At least half of the league’s teams have a point guard on their roster who is not only above average but can, to some extent, be considered elite. Irving and Thomas are certainly two of those players, which makes the trade so interesting. One name not often mentioned on any of these lists of elite point guards is new L.A. Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley.

Beverley comes to the LA Clippers via a trade with the Houston Rockets. In exchange for guard Chris Paul, the Clippers received Beverley, forward Sam Dekker, center Montrezl Harrell, a first-round pick and a few other players. Rather than lose Paul for nothing, the Clippers received a number of assets that have allowed for a quick retooling of the team rather than a full rebuild, which may have been necessary if Paul had simply left to sign with the Rockets as a free agent instead. If that had occurred, perhaps Blake Griffin, also an unrestricted free agent, may have also left to sign elsewhere. Instead, after the trade had been consummated, Griffin re-signed.

Beverley has played the past few years as a successful counterbalance to the style and impact of James Harden on the Houston Rockets. Beverley isn’t the flashiest, biggest or the most talented point guard in the NBA. But while Harden concentrated on being the focus on offense through which the team played, Beverley honed his play to be successful off the ball while matching Harden’s offensive workload with equally tenacious defense and hustle.

Often players talk about being traded as the result of the NBA being a business. That translates into a transaction being best for the teams but not always best for the players whose personal lives (where kids go to school, where they live, etc.) is turned upside down. For Beverley, it was quite the opposite as he had already asked the Rockets to trade him.

“I asked for it, I asked for it,” Beverley stated on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast. “I asked for a bigger opportunity, a bigger chance to display my skills on a high level. I’m fortunate the Rockets put me into a situation to be successful.”

Beverley comes to Los Angeles as the most obvious candidate to replace the Clippers best player of the last six years, Paul, at point guard. Like Harden, the Clippers ran their offense through Paul, whom has demonstrated an exceptional ability to control the action on offense. In addition, Paul has been a standout defensive player as well for the Clippers. Beverly has made it clear how he feels about replacing Paul while speaking confidently about his own skills and abilities.

“I’m not Chris Paul” Beverley stated at his introductory press conference. “In saying that, he’s not me either. So, we’ll leave it right there.”

Paul has held the mantle of being the best point guard in the league for years based on his wide range of offensive and defensive abilities with his only major perceived downside being the lack of additional playoff success. However, Beverley does have more intangible factors weighing in his favor.

Beverley displays defensive tenacity that is not often seen in most other players. He was second only to Paul last year in defensive real plus minus rankings for all point guards. Beverley’s continued success on defense through effort has been noticed. Last year Beverley was awarded the NBA’s first inaugural Hustle award. Earning this reputation and this award was no accident. Beverley talked about why playing hard is a talent and used Warriors forward Draymond Green as an example.

“I think that [playing hard] goes unnoticed a lot,” Beverley stated on the Woj Pod. “[Draymond Green] gets lots of assists but he is not going out there Magic Johnson no looks. You know, he rebounds well but he is not Dennis Rodman, no 20 rebounds a game type. But he is still one of the best players in the NBA and that is just playing hard. Besides myself, I think that he does that better than anyone in the NBA.”

Beverley made it clear when asked whether enough guys in the NBA play hard he simply responded “no.”

What can we expect from Beverley if everything he wishes for comes true? With the Clippers, he has the chance to play an even more prominent role for a competitive team. Naturally, Beverley wants to apply what he does best personally while also changing perceptions of the team.

“Me providing the leadership I provide. Trying to change the culture a little bit,” Beverley said. “You think of L.A. and you think of lights, camera, action. All of that is fun for sure. But at the end of the day, they judge you by wins and losses and how hard you play, and how you putting on for the city. If I can just be fortunate to bring my culture to the team, try to change the culture a little bit to kind of a blue collar, grit and grind kind of team and potentially make the playoffs and when you make the playoffs, anything can happen.”

Beverley is the presumed starting point guard for the Clippers and is looking for more of a leadership role and perhaps an opportunity to have a bigger impact on the offensive end, which wouldn’t have been possible alongside Harden. The Clippers are a team that needs a lot of new pieces to fit together fairly quick due to the competitiveness of the western conference. If Beverley has his way, effort, hustle and defense will lead the way.