Patrick Beverley Rumors | Hoops Rumors

L.A. Notes: Walker, Lakers, Davis, Clippers, Batum

October 13th, 2022 at 8:05am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers swingman Lonnie Walker, who earned a second consecutive start on Wednesday, sustained a “mild” left ankle sprain in the third quarter, per head coach Darvin Ham. Walker will be reevaluated on Thursday, but he’s not experiencing any swelling or overt pain, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).

The Lakers, having started Walker and Patrick Beverley on Wednesday alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, continue to search for the right starting lineup fit as the preseason winds down, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

“We get an opportunity to throw some stuff at the wall and see what sticks,” Ham said prior to the game. “We already know our three main guys — Russ, Bron, AD. Those guys as well are getting used to playing with one another. That was very limited last year. So we look at it as an opportunity to just shake the rug and just shake things up and see what makes sense once it all starts to come together.”

The Lakers will play one more preseason game on Friday before next Tuesday’s regular season opener.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

Anthony Davis still prefers to play power forward, but is willing to start and finish games at center if that’s what the Lakers and Ham ask of him. “I trust Coach’s decision,” Davis said on Wednesday (Twitter link via McMenamin). “I mean, I’m pretty sure he heard AD wants to play the four, so he knows where I stand, but at the end of the day, I want to win, so if that’s me playing the five, that’s what it’s got to be.“
Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said he thought going into Wednesday’s game that he knew who would start at point guard, but he’s less certain about that spot after being displeased with how the team opened the game (Twitter link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN). Starting point guard Reggie Jackson had just one point in 12 minutes, while John Wall had eight points and four assists in 10 minutes off the bench.
In an interview on the French television channel Canal+ (video link), Clippers forward Nicolas Batum spoke about the mental health challenges he has faced during his NBA career, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Batum, whose father died of an aneurysm at age 31, was diagnosed with a heart issue before he entered the NBA and worried about his own health and family. “I was convinced the same would happen to me and that I was going to leave my family,” he said. “I asked my wife to not come to the games because I did want to see them in the stands.”

Lakers Notes: Schröder, Davis, Wembanyama

October 10th, 2022 at 9:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dennis Schröder claims he never declined a four-year, $80MM offer from the Lakers during his first stint with the club, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

“There never was a contract, never rejected anything,” said Schröder, who signed a one-year, $2.64MM contract last month. “I don’t know who brought it up, but that’s the media, you know? But at the end of the day, no contract and I’m just happy to be here. Like you said, unfinished business and we just got to take care of the stuff and win a chip [championship]. That’s, I think, the goal, and other than that, with the contract, that’s not true. “

As Dave McMenamin of ESPN notes, it’s likely a case of semantics. When L.A. broached a conversation about an extension in February 2021, Schröder’s reps said they would rather wait until the offseason to discuss a contract. In other words, the Lakers were presumably willing to put a lucrative extension offer on the table, but may not have been given the chance to formally do so.

Schröder, who wound up signing a one-year, $5.9MM deal with Boston in 2021, hopes he’ll get another contract offer from the Lakers.

“Of course, it would be great to sign a big deal and a longer-term deal, and that’s my goal still,” he said. “But the end of the day, we are here now and I’m going to do everything I can right now to just help my teammates win ballgames.”

We have more on the Lakers:

Schröder practiced for the first time on Monday and will see a few minutes of action in Wednesday’s preseason game against Minnesota. He looks forward to fighting for minutes with Patrick Beverley, Turner writes. “I’ve played against him a couple of times. I seen today already he’s a little different, and I mean, I like it,” he said. “We all competitors, and we try to get after it.”
Will Anthony Davis start at power forward or center? New coach Darvin Ham said that Davis playing the ‘five’ spot is a real possibility, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets. As Ham put it, it’s “definitely on the table.”
The stir caused by probable 2023 top pick Victor Wembanyama could benefit the Lakers, Goon opines. Non-contenders may be more willing to move quality veteran players. Salary matching with Russell Westbrook’s $47.1MM contract would still be a challenge but potential trade partners might be less demanding regarding Los Angeles’ 2027 and 2029 first-rounders.

L.A. Notes: Clippers, Coffey, George, Lakers, AD

October 6th, 2022 at 12:36pm CST by Rory Maher

John Hollinger of The Athletic previews the Clippers for the 2022/23 season, writing that with the league’s deepest roster and stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George back and healthy, they should be among the best teams in the league. Hollinger predicts the Clippers will go 54-28 and finish as the No. 1 seed in the West, but thinks the Warriors have a better shot of making the NBA Finals.

There are a couple of question marks on the roster, even though it’s very deep, especially on the wing. According to Hollinger, the Clips need either John Wall and/or Norman Powell to step up and be a “third star” to complement Leonard and George, with shot creation and getting to the free throw line top priorities.

The other weakness of the roster is center, with only Ivica Zubac as a true five on the 15-man roster. Hollinger thinks it might be a tall order to have Robert Covington play full-time backup center in the regular season, and wonders if the team might use its last standard roster spot on a traditional center.

Here’s more on the two Los Angeles teams:

Amir Coffey, a Minnesota native who played college ball for the Golden Gophers, says he fulfilled a lifelong dream by signing a three-year, $11MM contract as a restricted free agent. “It’s a dream come true,” Coffey told Marcus Fuller of The Star Tribune. “Just playing in the league and doing something I’ve been wanting to do since I was a kid. Just putting all that work in and having it pay off is a good feeling.” Coffey had a breakout third season in ’21/22 after spending the bulk of his career on two-way deals, averaging 9.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 1.8 on .453/.378/.863 shooting in 69 games (30 starts, 22.7 MPG).
George recently sat down for an interview with Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (video link) and discussed a number of topics, including joining forces with Leonard, his health, leadership, recruiting Wall, and more.
The Lakers started Patrick Beverley and Austin Reaves in place of Kendrick Nunn and Damian Jones during Wednesday’s preseason game against Phoenix as coach Darvin Ham was taking a look at a small-ball lineup, tweets Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. Star Anthony Davis sat out the game for “precautionary” reasons due to lower back tightness, Goon notes (via Twitter).

Lakers Notes: Westbrook, Beverley, Nunn, Brown, Walker, Schröder

September 26th, 2022 at 4:29pm CST by Luke Adams

New Lakers head coach Darvin Ham isn’t committing to having Russell Westbrook in his starting lineup to open the 2022/23 season, telling reporters on Monday that the team has a “variety of options to fill in our backcourt,” as Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group tweets.

It might have made a bad situation in Los Angeles worse if Westbrook had been pulled from the team’s starting lineup last season, but the former MVP appears to be keeping an open mind as he prepares for the coming year. Prior to his Media Day session, Westbrook told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that it doesn’t matter whether or not he feels “wanted” by the Lakers and that he’s “all-in on whatever it takes for this team to win,” even if that means coming off the bench.

Westbrook – who told Wojnarowski that he thinks he, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James can be “unstoppable” – said to reporters on Monday that he has talked to Davis and James at length this summer about what worked and didn’t work last season, and has found those conversations “very beneficial” (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic).

While there’s no guarantee that Westbrook – long considered a trade candidate – will spend the entire season in Los Angeles, Lakers head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said today that the point guard is still one of the NBA’s great players, and expressed confidence that Ham will bring out “another level” in him this season (Twitter link via Goon).

Even Westbrook’s longtime nemesis Patrick Beverley had nothing but praise for his new teammate, suggesting that the rumored animus between the two guards has been overblown and telling Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link) that Westbrook has been his “best friend” on the team since he was traded to L.A. last month.

As we wait to see whether this season goes any smoother for Westbrook than his first season in Los Angeles did, here’s more on the Lakers:

Now that James has signed an extension with the team this offseason, the Lakers are willing to trade future draft assets to upgrade the roster, Pelinka confirmed today. However, Pelinka stressed that the team will only get one chance to trade those 2027 and 2029 first-round picks and said that any deal involving those draft assets must clearly improve the club’s title chances (Twitter links via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin).
Kendrick Nunn has been cleared for all contact work after missing the entire 2021/22 season with a knee injury, but new additions Troy Brown (back) and Lonnie Walker (ankle) are limited for the time being, Pelinka said today. Walker downplayed his ankle issue, telling reporters that he has been running, jumping, and cutting on it, and is pretty close to being fully healthy (Twitter links via Goon).
Dennis Schröder isn’t at training camp yet because he’s working through a visa issue, per Pelinka, but it shouldn’t be too long before he joins the team (Twitter link via Goon).
Neither Pelinka nor Ham is worried about the Lakers’ wing defense, tweets Buha. “We should be one of the elite defensive teams in the league,” Ham said. “… We have the personnel for it.”
In a full story for The Athletic, Buha poses 10 key questions facing the Lakers, starting with Westbrook’s role and future. Buha also considers the team’s starting lineup battles, where the shooting will come from, and what to realistically expect from LeBron in his 20th NBA season.

Pacific Notes: Iguodala, Schröder, Westbrook, Sarver

September 18th, 2022 at 2:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Warriors anticipate that longtime veteran leader Andre Iguodala will announce his return to the club, writes Marc Stein on Substack. Iguodala has previously suggested he will publicly reveal his decision during an upcoming episode of his podcast Point Forward, co-hosted by his former Sixers teammate Evan Turner.

Stein reports that Golden State expects Iguodala, who has won four titles with the team, will be back for his 19th NBA season in 2022/23 rather than opting to retire, but is prepared for either outcome. The Warriors top off their 2022 training camp earlier than most other teams, as they will be playing exhibition games abroad.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Elsewhere in his latest Substack piece, Stein suggests that the Lakers consider Russell Westbrook and new addition Dennis Schröder to be their top two point guards. Sources inform Stein that the Lakers see the 6’1″ Patrick Beverley, who started as a point guard alongside shooting guard D’Angelo Russell last season with the Timberwolves, as a swingman who can defend and shoot from long range, rather than a point guard, heading into his 11th NBA season. Stein writes that L.A. intends to use Kendrick Nunn, Austin Reaves, and Lonnie Walker at the shooting guard or small forward position instead of point guard.
Earlier today, Schröder led his native Germany to a win over Poland to secure a bronze medal in this year’s EuroBasket contest, per Eurohoops. The 6’3″ Lakers point guard scored 26 points on 7-of-10 shooting. “That was the goal of the federation, of coach Herbert and for the team and it’s an unbelievable feeling to win a medal in a Eurobasket,” Schröder said after the game. Schröder’s performance in tournament play this summer reportedly helped his cause in free agency.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver seemed uncomfortable at being forced to defend the misbehavior of temporarily suspended Suns team owner Robert Sarver in a Wednesday press conference, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Sarver has been banned from having any role with either Phoenix basketball club he owns, the Suns or the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, for the 2022/23 season.

Lakers Rumors: Westbrook, Role, Ham, Trade Talks, Schröder

September 16th, 2022 at 8:42pm CST by Rory Maher

Despite the recent additions of Patrick Beverley and Dennis Schröder, Russell Westbrook is increasingly likely to remain on the Lakers‘ roster, according to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

However, sources tell The Athletic that Westbrook’s role might change, with the team “strongly” considering having the former league MVP come off the bench in 2022/23. New head coach Darvin Ham has the “full backing” of the organization to determine lineups for the upcoming season, and Westbrook will have to outperform his new teammates during minicamp, training camp and the preseason to remain the Lakers’ starting point guard, Buha and Amick write.

Unless the Lakers can find a trade that they believe makes them a legitimate title contender, Westbrook is “highly likely” to stay on the roster, sources tell The Athletic.

A major part of that line of thinking is the Lakers want to keep their financial and trade options open for ’23/24, when they project to have $30MM+ in cap room for free agency, per Buha and Amick. Westbrook is on an expiring contract worth $47.1MM, and the Lakers have been reluctant to trade their 2027 and/or 2029 first-round picks to offload him.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Los Angeles is banking on Ham being able to optimize Westbrook’s talent — and get through to him in a way that Frank Vogel couldn’t — as well as a return to health for Anthony Davis in order for the ’22/23 season to be successful, sources tell Buha and Amick.
According to Buha and Amick, the Lakers discussed a four-team trade with the Jazz, Knicks and Hornets prior to Donovan Mitchell being dealt to Cleveland, with an early framework sending Bojan Bogdanovic and Terry Rozier to L.A.
Los Angeles continues to show interest in Bogdanovic, with The Athletic’s duo reporting that Jordan Clarkson and Malik Beasley have been included in recent talks with Utah for Westbrook. However, a deal is considered unlikely because of the aforementioned reasons — the Lakers don’t want to part with first-rounders and Clarkson has a $14.3MM player option for ’23/24 that would eat into the team’s potential cap room.
Along the same lines, Buha and Amick write that dealing Westbrook to the Pacers for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, which has been rumored multiple times, is also “not expected” — Hield has a $19.3MM cap hit in ’23/24.
Schröder made an Instagram post expressing his excitement about returning to the Lakers, saying that he wanted to “make s–t right!” Schröder’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, tells Mark Medina of NBA.com (Twitter link) that the team informed Schröder that “there will be a lot of minutes for everybody” despite a crowded backcourt.

Lakers Notes: Nunn, Backcourt, Westbrook, Outlook

September 7th, 2022 at 10:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn was recently cleared for increased contact in workouts, league sources tell Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Head coach Darvin Ham told reporters, including Buha, that Nunn has primarily been working on individual drills and working out in the weight room.

According to Buha, Ham also said that Nunn, Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker are all in consideration for the starting lineup, and the trio will have “notable roles.”

Nunn, who missed all of last season with a knee issue, said he was “100%” healthy back in July, but subsequent reports from Buha have cast a cloud on his status. Still, additional contact was an important hurdle to clear for the 27-year-old, so we’ll see if he’s ready to go once the season starts next month.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

The “combustible” pairing of Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook could provide the spark necessary to ignite the Lakers, or it could blow up in their faces, opines Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California Newsgroup (subscriber link). As Swanson observes, both players are well-known for being stubborn, and their previous run-ins have been well documented. Everyone in L.A. is saying the right things right now, but only their on-court play and actions will prove whether the backcourt pairing will work or not, Swanson adds.
Westbrook needs to reinvent his game in order to make things work with the Lakers, argues Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Westbrook’s refusal to adjust his playing style was a primary reason why he fit so poorly with the team last season, Hernandez notes. Asking him to make drastic changes this late in his career might not be fair to the former MVP, but he’ll have to play much better defense and make offensive adjustments for the team to find success in year two, Hernandez writes.
League insiders are pretty skeptical regarding the Lakers’ outlook for the 2022/23 season, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. One common thread brought up by the insiders was that the defense might not be good enough to hold up the poor shooting of the roster. Only one of the seven insiders Pincus spoke to was confident the Lakers would make the playoffs outright.

Lakers’ Ham: Beverley, Westbrook Could Be Paired Together

September 6th, 2022 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Longtime heated rivals Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook could share the Lakers backcourt at times.

New Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he’s willing to pair them together, with one caveat.

“If they play defense,” Ham told ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk and other media members. “We’ve got awhile. That’s still a ways off, but definitely. People get caught up in the starting lineups a lot, but you look at who is finishing games. Those starters, they’re out there to set that tone for the entire team throughout the game. But, I’m not scared of that. It’s definitely a bullet in the chamber. We’re looking forward to it man, those guys in the backcourt together.”

The introductory press conference for Beverley, who was acquired from the Jazz late last month, included a twist: It was attended by Westbrook, who even threw a towel to Beverley as he wiped away sweat after a workout.

Their rivalry goes back to the 2013 playoffs, when Beverley dove for a steal as Westbrook tried to call a timeout, resulting in Westbrook tearing his meniscus. They were talking trash to each other as recently as last season but now appear willing to coexist, the Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike relays.

“A player with that competitive spirit, that fire, that will, that dog, that nastiness, that grit, to have a running mate like that, I have never had that,” Beverley said of Westbrook. “So I am super excited to see where it goes. Obviously like any relationship or any marriage, things, we are going to have tough conversations. That is what comes with winning but I am excited about those conversations, I am excited about the practices.”

Both guards will be free agents next summer — Westbrook has an expiring $47MM deal, while Beverley is making $13MM during the upcoming season.

Beverley said he’s not going to change the culture of a team but he wants to play a role in its turnaround after it failed to make the playoffs last season.

“You can see all the banners, but you know, it’s what have you done for me lately?” he said. “And lately, haven’t been a good team.”

Pacific Notes: Beverley, Westbrook, Saric, Kings

September 1st, 2022 at 11:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Since the Lakers traded for veteran point guard Patrick Beverley, the future of 2021/22 starter Russell Westbrook has seemed murky. Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register wonders if the duo can actually share the floor together, or at the very least both stick around on the team this season.

Swanson reads tea leaves in recent public statements from head coach Darvin Ham and team owner Jeanie Buss that seem to suggest they appreciate Westbrook and his contributions to the club last year. Swanson writes that, because Beverley can function so well off the ball as a catch-and-shoot long range sniper, and can defend at least both guard positions, he could theoretically play alongside Westbrook, who tends to be significantly more ball-dominant.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

With Donovan Mitchell headed to the Cavaliers, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times opines that the Lakers could look to move Westbrook (and draft compensation) to the Jazz, who have already offloaded four of their best veteran players in separate deals this summer, including both their All-Stars. Woike writes that combo forward Bojan Bogdanovic should be L.A.’s top priority, and also floats the possibility of adding some combination of Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, Malik Beasley and Rudy Gay into such a deal.
Suns reserve big man Dario Saric missed all of the 2021/22 season while he recovered from a ruptured ACL in his right knee suffered in the first game of the 2021 Finals. The 6’10” big man played well during the Croatian national team’s FIBA EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers in August, writes Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
Three reserve point guards will be duking it out during the Kings‘ training camp later this month. James Ham of Kings Beat assesses each player in terms of their relative strengths and weaknesses on the current Sacramento roster. As a former lottery pick, defensive-oriented second-year guard Davion Mitchell seems guaranteed to get some run behind pricey starter De’Aaron Fox. Ham predicts that Quinn Cook could have an edge over Matthew Dellavedova as the team’s third point guard option.

Lakers Notes: Westbrook, Beverley, Fournier

August 31st, 2022 at 4:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Despite frequent clashes in the past, Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley have been in contact since Beverley was acquired by the Lakers via trade from the Jazz, sources tell veteran reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link), who adds that head coach Darvin Ham has informed the two guards that he plans to utilize them together at times.

A report last week from Jovan Buha of The Athletic indicated that Beverley’s addition made Westbrook’s exit more likely, but Stein reported a few days ago that the Lakers have thus far resisted the Rockets’ approach with John Wall last season, having him sit out despite being healthy.

If that’s the case, it stands to reason that a trade would be the most viable path for L.A. to take with Westbrook’s $47.06MM expiring deal, though finding a taker will be easier said than done at the reported price point.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Steve Popper of Newsday suggests the Lakers might be interested in adding a shooter like Knicks wing Evan Fournier in a potential three-team trade between the Jazz, Knicks and Lakers that would send Donovan Mitchell to New York and Westbrook to Utah. Popper mentions Fournier because he’s been involved in trade talks for salary-matching purposes, but because it isn’t sourced, it might just be speculation on his part. Having said that, the Lakers do need shooting, and Fournier shot 38.9% from beyond the arc last season on high volume (7.7 attempts per game).
Could Westbrook be the missing piece in a Mitchell deal between the Jazz and Knicks? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that topic, floating the possibility of a three-team trade with the Lakers receiving Fournier and Cam Reddish from the Knicks and Bojan Bogdanovic from the Jazz.
In case you missed it, the Lakers are reportedly still interested in Reddish after trying to deal for him ahead of the deadline in February, we rounded up some Lakers rumors this morning, and recently examined their pre-camp roster situation as well.