The heart and soul of the Celtics, Marcus Smart, has been traded away so the C’s have lost a vital voice in the locker room and veteran guard Pat Bev could be the answer.
One NBA writer has proposed that current Bulls and former Lakers guard Patrick Beverley would fit seamlessly into the Boston roster.
“Beverley, 34, is an unrestricted free agent with a nearly identical level of toughness to Smart coupled with some much-needed veteran leadership and experience that Boston has missed,” NESN writer Gio Rivera said. “He’s vaguely reminiscent of Marcus Morris’ with Boston four seasons ago.”
Beverley has larger than life personality, plus adding him to the roster won’t break the bank.
His one-year deal with Chicago last season was just over $800k where he averaged 6.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists on 40 percent shooting from the field in 67 games for the Bulls / Lakers (22/45).
Beverley’s stats don’t speak to his intangibles though, which could be witnessed when he arrived in Chicago and turned their season around.
The Bulls were on the cusp of making the playoffs but were defeated by the Heat for eighth seed, but before Pat Bev arrived the franchise were struggling to stay in 11th seed.
The team brought a different and more renewed energy to the court when Pat Bev was leading the charge.
“The man does everything,” DeRozan told The Athletic in March. “(It’s) electrifying, especially when we’re at home. It gets the crowd going, and you’ve got to feed off of that when you see a guy sacrificing himself for big plays and to save a possession. It carries over from there.”
There are also whispers that Derrick Rose may be returning home to Chicago, so the team could be making room and a contract like Beverley’s is an easy one to part with.
Despite Boston already making big moves with the acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis’ $36 million salary, many NBA insiders say the franchise isn’t done yet.
Adding an experienced 11-season NBA veteran like Beverley could be a huge win for a team that only need a few extra pieces to catapult themselves into Finals contention.
Free agency will be upon us very soon, so watch this space!
READ MORE: Celtics Executive Justifies Marcus Smart-Kristaps Porzingis Trade