After reaching an agreement to sign with Chicago, veteran guard Patrick Beverley stated on the latest episode of his Pat Bev Podcast that his decision in free agency came down to the Bulls and Warriors.
“It was between Golden State and the Bulls,” he said. “The Bulls have been after me for the last couple years. I f–k with (Bulls head coach) Billy Donovan, I really do. I like his structure, I like how he goes about things. So I couldn’t say no to that.
“Obviously it’s always good to play with a lot of great talent in Golden State. But there’s a lot of guards over there, you know? So I figured I could make a playoff push with the Bulls right now and kind of pump them up a little bit. The East is kind of weak. Not to disrespect anybody in the East, but a lot of people went to the West (at the trade deadline).”
Beverley, who was born and raised in Chicago, said he dreamed of playing for the Bulls when he was a kid. He added that he’s thrilled by the opportunity to play for his hometown team while getting to spend time with family and take his kids to school.
“I get to rep my city on my chest, proudly,” Beverley said. “So if you think I went hard for other teams, just imagine how hard I’m gonna go for this one. I’m excited, my mom’s excited, my family’s excited, my friends are excited, I know the Bulls are excited. I just can’t wait to get s–t started, man.”
Beverley got off to a slow start this season with the Lakers, but had played better over the last couple months. Since December 9, he has averaged 7.9 points and 2.7 assists on .474/.424/.759 shooting in 27 games (27.3 MPG). Still, Los Angeles decided to send him to Orlando in a deadline-day trade for Mohamed Bamba and he subsequently reached a buyout agreement with the Magic.
Pointing out that the Bulls will play the Lakers twice next month, Beverley expressed a desire to knock his old team out of the playoff mix in the West. He also suggested that he believes he can help his new team finish strong.
“You know me, I impact winning,” he said. “I’m shooting 40 (percent on three-pointers) over the last couple months. I’m actually playing some of my best basketball. If you pull up the numbers, my numbers right now are better than my numbers in Minnesota last season.”
As for his discussions with the Warriors, Beverley said he spoke to front office executive Mike Dunleavy Jr. and was scheduled to talk to head coach Steve Kerr too, but made his decision to join the Bulls before that conversation with Kerr occurred. Based on Beverley’s comments, it’s unclear whether Golden State actually had an offer on the table for him or whether the two sides were still working to determine the fit.
“They kept it real with me, like, ‘We don’t want you to wait, Pat, if this is an opportunity you want to take, go ahead, we respect it, we know there’s a lot of teams after you,'” Beverley said. “So I felt like the Bulls were the best fit. I appreciate Golden State. I appreciate the opportunity that was there, if it was there. It worked out the way it was supposed to.”
Will always be a Pat Bev fan. Appreciate his heart and hustle with my Clipps! Best of luck in Chi-town!
Not sure if he would fit the warriors team. Yes they could use his defense but his personality might clash. Him and Green on the same team could be come some big fights.
I mean, people thought the same would happen with him and Russ. They actually had beef with each other! And it didn’t happen. Even now, PatBev is still on Team Russ. Granted, Beverly doesn’t actually have good defensive marks this year, but if a change of scenery helps him it could turn out to be a miss by the Warriors.
With ball being out he was promised a lot of minutes by their coach when kerr would not promise a lot of minutes once Curry and Payton are back.
And he totally made the wrong choice.
Nobody like da kingz
One thing is for sure: I doubt the Warriors were anywhere near as eager and thirsty for Pat as the Bulls were. As for which team is in more desperate need for a spark to win games and not watch their top 4 protected pick go too high, it’s the Bulls.
Bulls can’t figure out how to win at all. Music to Pat’s ears.
That means warriors didn’t want him. Lol
obviously Beverly is focused on winning
Good for Bulls, I mean PatBev isn’t Lonzo Ball, and the distributor the Bulls are lacking, but he can certainly help them with his 3pt shooting, toughness, and defensive mentality…
Realistically, without Ball, they’ve always been a team that’s ceiling is likely the play-in tournament, but maybe Beverly can spark this team to be a little more consistent on the defensive end…Just maybe..lol
As I said
Players want minutes and shot attempts
They need to sign a big contract
Wins is not important
You give me 20 shot attempts per game so that I can sign $80 million contract
Over under on fights between Levine and PatBev? 2.5? Leads to them finally moving off him wunce the season is dun
“It was between Golden State and the Bulls, but the Warriors have a ton of guards waaaaay better than me, and their management knows I’m not really a good basketball player – I just munk up the game when I’m on the court and I’ve made a living off of just that… so, the Warriors didn’t want me and I’m goin to the Bulls!”