Back in July, we heard that Tobias Harris turned down a four-year extension offer from the Clippers. According to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, Harris wasn’t the only player with whom the Clippers discussed a contract extension this year. Deveney hears from a source that the team also spoke to guard Patrick Beverley about a new deal, despite the fact that he was still rehabbing from knee surgery at the time. Beverley decided to play out the final season of his contract instead.
Beverley, who is earning just over $5MM this season, would have been eligible for an extension worth up to about $47.5MM over four years, though the Clippers almost certainly offered less than that. I’d guess Los Angeles made an effort to lock up Beverley at a team-friendly rate following his long injury absence, with the 30-year-old betting he could rebuild his value in advance of his 2019 free agency.
Here’s more from out of Los Angeles:
- The Clippers are keeping a close eye on Kevin Durant‘s situation in Golden State, and have every intention of making a pitch to Durant in free agency next summer, Deveney reports. Deveney suggests that Durant seems likely to hear out the Clips, though with his free agency still seven months away, it’s hard to get a sense at this point of what the process will look like.
- The Clippers made “no significant push” to acquire Jimmy Butler when the Timberwolves were shopping him earlier this fall, sources tell Deveney. As we heard during that saga, the Clips were strongly opposed to including Tobias Harris in a package for Butler, and that stance has paid off so far — Harris, who leads L.A. in PPG (21.6) and RPG (8.4), has been the club’s best player this season.
- Patrick Beverley was fined $25K by the NBA for throwing the ball at a spectator on Sunday, the league announced today in a press release.
Clippers have an intriguing roster and projected payroll. I don’t see a single player in their top 10 or so who couldn’t be traded for value. Not sure if they can really win the WC with that group, but they could collect a whole bunch of draft picks in a hurry if they wanted to.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed is the latest to make a pitch to Durant. I still think Steph, Klay, Steve Kerr, the 5 year max contracts, the new stadium, and the championships will keep him with the Warriors. For their next low rent free agents for next season, I think Brook Lopez and his brother would be perfect. They played their college ball at Stanford.
No mention of Leonard…..why? Jerry West type player. He’s not staying in Toronto