Top five offseason goals for the LA Clippers

Re-sign Patrick Beverley

Of all the free agents looking for new contracts this summer, the LA Clippers’ top priority should not be to sign a star, it should be to keep the spirit of their team. Patrick Beverley is exactly that. He created their grit-and-grind, tough-as-nails style of play. Without him, the Clippers aren’t the Clippers.

Beverley isn’t the player who will drop 40 points. He won’t have 35-foot game winners, nor will he consistently have the biggest numbers in the box score. Instead, Beverley leads the team by encouraging aggressive and annoying defense. He won’t always stop his opponents from scoring, but he will make it incredibly difficult.

For example, look at the first two games of the round one series against the Warriors. Beverley had the impossible task of guarding Kevin Durant, one of the most effective offensive weapons in NBA history. Through these two games, Durant only averaged 22 points, far lower than his regular season average. In Game 2, Beverley was in Durant’s head, and it showed. The reigning Finals-MVP only took eight shots. He still scored on five of those attempts, but a player of his caliber should have been shooting more. Beverley is responsible for taking Durant’s confidence.

Many teams would love to add Beverley. He could mentor young players on bad teams or he could play big minutes off the bench for a contender. The LA Clippers will have to rely on Beverley’s loyalty to keep him around. Losing him would be nothing short of disastrous.