San Antonio Spurs Trade Targets: Patrick Beverley

Entering his seventh season in the NBA, point guard Patrick Beverley could provide a lot of necessary help for the ailing San Antonio Spurs.

The Los Angeles Clippers are in a difficult spot ahead of Monday evening’s final roster deadline. With too many players and not enough roster space to go around, they’ve reportedly been active in the trade market trying to make something work.

Coming off of a major knee injury that sidelined him for all but 11 games in the 2017-18 season, point guard Patrick Beverley is prepared to return to the hardwood as a seasoned veteran and valuable teammate. According to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops, Beverley is “one player the Clippers are willing to move” as the deadline approaches.

For the Clippers, they have several directions they could go. With a glut of PGs, LA has had talks with all of the suddenly PG-needy teams, but hasn't gotten there yet. A source said "Might take this all the way down to Monday's deadline. Their guys are too good to just cut." https://t.co/cerU10LF3d

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 14, 2018

San Antonio could surely use his defensive prowess and three-point shooting ability to their advantage this year. Prior to joining the Clippers, Beverley was one of the most consistent point guards in the league for the Houston Rockets.

Signs indicated that Beverley would take a step before his injury last season. Through his 11 games, Beverley averaged 12.2 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals in 30.4 minutes per game. What stuck out most about Beverley’s stint as a Clipper was his ability to knock down a high volume of three pointers at an efficient rate.

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Beverley hit 40 percent of his 5.5 three-point attempts per game last season. He’s a career 37.6 percent shooter from deep and hasn’t averaged below 38.2 percent from three in the last three seasons. Floor spacing is clearly an emphasis for the Spurs this year, especially with the addition of All-NBA shooting guard DeMar DeRozan.

Adding Beverley to the lineup would help alleviate some of the defensive pressure left absent by the injury to point guard Dejounte Murray. By most accounts, DeRozan is considered to be on the wrong side of average as a defender, a huge change from San Antonio’s last All-NBA wing.

Beverley would fit perfectly in a motion-based Spurs offense and would nicely compliment the offensive scheme designed by head coach Gregg Popovich.

After acquiring a first-round pick from the Toronto Raptors this summer, the Spurs can afford to ship off some second rounders to replace their fallen starting point guards. Even after Murray and sophomore Derrick White return from injury, Beverley will have a carved-out space in the rotation alongside those players.

A defensive combination of Murray and Beverley, once healthy, would be a menacing task for any opposing backcourt. This trade option makes sense across the board, but time is of the essence. If this trade doesn’t happen soon then there’s a good chance it doesn’t happen at all.

With that said, Beverley is a perfect option to help bolster a struggling San Antonio guard rotation.