LA Clippers 2019-2020 player profiles: Patrick Beverley

The heart and soul of the LA Clippers and one of the best defensive players in the league, Patrick Beverley is back for his third season with Los Angeles.

There are plenty of players in the NBA that are recognizable for a single, individual trait. For a while, Blake Griffin was known only for his flashy finishes at the rim. Dennis Rodman could rebound unlike any other. Dirk Nowitzki made the fadeaway famous. Of course, all of those players are and were great at other things, too. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that if I were to ask you who the best step-back three-point shooter in the league is, most people would instantly reply with James Harden.

The same can be said of Patrick Beverley, who, among other things, has garnered plenty of notoriety for the way in which he plays defense.

Beverley’s approach to defense is what makes him such a special player, and his ability to lead by example has helped make him the easily-identifiable heart and soul of the LA Clippers. He’s invaluable to the roster, and there’s no doubt that his relentless style of play benefitted the team as they made their historic run to the playoffs last season.

But before we delve too far into what Beverley means to the team, let’s first talk about his defensive abilities, and how they set him apart from most other point guards.

Defense

Now more than ever before, scoring is being prioritized in professional basketball. 10 years ago, the Phoenix Suns were the highest-scoring team in the league by a considerable margin, and they scored 109.4 points per game — a mark that would rank in the bottom-10 in today’s NBA. 20 years ago, the Sacramento Kings led the league in scoring by putting up a blistering 100.2 points per contest — over three points lower than the 103.5 points per game that the Memphis Grizzlies averaged this past season, which was a league-low.

That’s part of what makes Beverley, a 6-1 guard who chooses to take on the opposing team’s best player — regardless of their size — so unique.

An example: In the LA Clippers’ first round matchup with the Golden State Warriors this past postseason, Beverley opted to defend Kevin Durant for the first few games of the series. That’s right — a former league MVP and four-time scoring champion that’s one of the most unguardable players in the league was being hassled by someone he has nearly a foot on.

The funny thing is, for those first few games, Beverley’s approach worked. Obviously he had a difficult time contesting Durant’s shots, but that wasn’t what his defense was about. He heckled him. He left no more than inches of space between himself and Durant. More importantly, he kept the ball out of his hands. And for those first few games, it worked.

In Game 1, Durant connected on eight of his 16 attempts from the floor, including 1-of-2 from three-point range. In total, he scored 23 points en route to a 17-point victory over the Clippers. And while it may not seem like Beverley had much of an impact in that game, keep in mind that all of those marks are below Durant’s 2018-2019 regular season averages.

Game 2 was where Beverley truly made his presence felt, though. Durant scored 21 points for the Dubs, but was limited to just eight shots overall (one from deep) and committed a playoffs-career-high nine turnovers.

Beverley’s performance on defense was inspiring, and it shouldn’t be considered a coincidence that this was the game in which the LA Clippers came back from 31 points down to stun Golden State. He eventually fouled out of the game, but by then, the Clippers were already within single digits and had completely stolen the momentum.

Durant eventually realized that he could best Beverley, and once he started demanding the ball and taking more shots, he took over the series. Regardless of the outcome of the series, though, no one would forget — at least not soon — the impact Beverley had on the series.

Now is also a good time to mention that there is no way Beverley should be as good a rebounder as he is, but that’s just another thing that makes him one of the league’s most unique players. He recorded five or more rebounds in 35 of the 78 regular season games he appeared in this past season, and in Games 4-6 of LA’s first round meeting with the Warriors, he averaged 12.7 rebounds per contest.

Offense

The LA Clippers roster is full of players that are more than capable of performing on both ends of the floor, and that’s by design. And while Beverley may not be as skilled on the offensive side of the floor as he is on the defensive, he’s still a reliable scorer, rebounder and playmaker that gets the job done when need be. And most importantly, he carries his same gritty mentality over the offensive side as well. That means maximum effort — diving for loose balls, wrapping a player up to force jump balls (which he surprisingly wins his fair share of) and absorbing contact.

Beverley has also maintained a consistent three-point stroke during his time in the NBA, and he’s only honed his craft as he continues his career in the league.

He managed a 39.7 percent clip from three-point range this past season on 3.6 attempts per game, a percentage that ranks well above the league average and is good for the second-highest mark of his career. Naturally, he put up more shots from beyond the arc as a member of the Houston Rockets, and he was an efficient shooter there too. In five seasons, he averaged 37.5 percent shooting from deep on 4.4 attempts per game.

Elsewhere, though, Beverley does leave something to be desired. This past season, according to Basketball Reference, he connected on just 37.2 percent of his looks within 3-10 feet of the basket. His floater came on a bit more in the later parts of the season though, which is something he could continue to work on as he enters his eighth year in the league.

He was far more efficient at the rim, connecting on 51.0 percent of his looks there. He also almost completely cut the midrange shot out of his game, taking only a handful of shots outside of the paint. Like plenty of others on the Clippers roster, he’s a smart shooter, and it looks as though LA’s coaching staff is helping him focus on taking only the highest-percentage looks to remain as efficient as possible.

Role

Aside from being a defensive pest and a sharpshooter from three-point range, Beverley’s role is to lead — and that’s not something that we expect to change anytime soon, even with the additions of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard to the roster.

The Clippers have adapted to Beverley’s style of play. He’s intense, he’s got a chip on his shoulder, and he gives all of his effort all of the time, whether he’s facing up with Alex Caruso or the aforementioned Durant. He doesn’t take any games off, and he treats every player like they’re viable to drop 50 points a night.

What he lacks on offense really isn’t much of an issue at all, especially now that the Clippers are going to have more scorers at their disposal. He’s not relied on to score 20 points per game, and he likely never will. He’s certainly capable, but he’s only asked to be as potent as possible on defense. He takes that job very seriously, and he arguably does it better than anybody else in the league.

Now that he’s signed on to remain with the LA Clippers organization for the next three seasons, Beverley figures to be a key part of the team as they pursue their first-ever NBA championship. There’s a chance they wouldn’t be in this position without him, and because of that, there’s no doubt that he’s one of the most important players on the roster.