Patrick Beverley was a beloved Clipper during his time in Los Angeles, but now he is sharing something surprising about how things ended.
The Minnesota Timberwolves guard Beverley appeared this week on JJ Redick’s “The Old Man and The Three” podcast. In the episode, Beverley revealed that he felt that the Clippers made him a “disrespectful” contract offer before his departure.
“We in the Western Conference Finals, something the team has never done,” he said. “Me being there from the beginning, I’m thinking that this contract extension, I’m thinking it’s going to be easy. I walk in and they throw me a number that I felt was borderline disrespectful.”
Beverley did add though that he had an honest conversation with Clippers executive Lawrence Frank (whom Beverley called “my guy” and said that he loves to death) and that Frank told him to provide a list of teams he wanted to go to. Beverley said that Minnesota was among his top three destinations.
The two-time All-Defensive Teamer Beverley was first traded to Memphis but eventually made his way to Minnesota where he is now a key cog for the No. 7-seeded Timberwolves. The Clippers did pretty well for themselves too, getting Eric Bledsoe in the Beverley trade, then flipping Bledsoe and Justise Winslow to Portland for Norman Powell and Robert Covington.
We hesitate to say that the Clippers did Beverley dirty here. There were definite injury concerns with the 33-year-old guard, who has only appeared in 70 or more games once in his career. The Clippers also made sure to work with Beverley on a preferred destination, and it does not sound like Beverley has any bad blood towards them. But the Clippers certainly have no qualms about letting go of fan favorites, as we saw a much more drastic example of several years ago.
Photo: Nov 13, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley (22) enters a game against Los Angeles Clippers during the first quarter at Staples Center. The Clippers won 129-102. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
