Patrick Beverley‘s appearance in Minnesota Friday as a member of the Lakers was a reminder that the Timberwolves miss their vocal leader from last season, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Wolves coach Chris Finch called Beverley a “tone setter” who held teammates accountable and brought a winning attitude to a franchise with little history of playoff success.
Beverley, who was traded to Utah and then L.A. during the offseason, hasn’t been able to transfer those qualities to his new team, which already has a hierarchy in place. The Lakers remain winless and Beverley is averaging 5.4 PPG while shooting a miserable 26.1% from the field and 17.6% from three-point range.
“We had a blast this past year,” Beverley said of his time in Minnesota. “A lot of good memories. Coming in from a halfway empty house at the beginning of the season and full crowd every time we step on the floor. The fans have been great. It’s a second home for me, for sure.”
There’s more from Minnesota:
- The Wolves’ trade for Rudy Gobert created an opportunity for Jaylen Nowell, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Nowell has taken over the backup shooting guard role formerly occupied by Malik Beasley and is averaging 14.5 PPG through the team’s first six games. “[There was] doubt, frustration, irritation,” Nowell said of his first three NBA seasons. “All type of things. But when you stick with it, and you just continue to work, good things will happen to those who work and continue to stay positive-minded.”
- The Wolves aren’t close to signing Nowell to an extension, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News confirmed on his latest podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype). A report this week indicated that the team had extension talks with Nowell and Naz Reid, but Wolfson believes Reid is more likely to receive an extension at this point. Both players will be extension-eligible through the end of June.
- Anthony Edwards should concentrate more on driving to the basket in late-game situations than firing up three-pointers, contends Patrick Reusse of The Star Tribune. Edwards is shooting 35.3% from long distance, but Reusse notes that his success rate with the game on the line hasn’t been good.
Wolves have easy schedule so far.
My regular season prediction
1 Suns
2. Grizzlies
3. Warriors
4. Mavs
I’m a wolves fan and a big believer in Finch as a coach but I agree with you they are not going to be close to the top 5 if KAT and Rudy can’t get their chemistry right sooner rather than later
Not happening anytime soon, Connelly got it all wrong
Nowell is someone to watch – if he can keep this pace off the bench that will be a major addition to Minnesota’s rotation. Also could be a 6MOY candidate
Couldn’t agree more, and you have to love the young man’s attitude!! Definitely rooting for him..
If the T-Wolves can get it figured out, they’re going to be a dangerous team come playoff time, and I certainly wouldn’t want my favorite team seeing them in the first round…
Lakers the only winless team in the league lol
Yep, Great GM work by LeBron
Yeah, management was stupid to let him dictate their roster decisions. He can no longer impact the game like he used to, and needs alot of help.
Help they don’t currently have because he wanted to trade away their depth to acquire Westbrook…lol Now, he has to live with the clownshow he created.
LeBron is one of the greatest, but this is what happens when you decide to stay after using up all of your team’s assets acquiring people you demand…
It was real easy before when he could just leave and start fresh using up another team’s assets and trading away players. Now he has to lay down in the bed he himself made!!
“Anthony Edwards should concentrate more on driving to the basket” – but sneaking a car onto the court is gonna be tough.
But, maybe, Edwards can drive a KAT….