The Minnesota Timberwolves sent Patrick Beverley away to the Utah Jazz in a trade to acquire Rudy Gobert. Beverley was a crucial locker room figure in helping the Timberwolves make the playoffs in 2022, a season milestone that the franchise has achieved just a few times over the last 15 years.
As the Wolves look to compete for a title with Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, Beverley’s future is still unclear. He is currently on the Utah Jazz but may be moved on by the team if they are looking to tank and rebuild. If they re-tool the squad around Donovan Mitchell and try to stay competitive this season, Beverley would be a great option for them to have.
PatBev was attending the basketball camp of Raptors’ player development coach Rico Hines with Paul George and Pascal Siakam. Considering Beverley has always been a role-player that had to be hard-nosed to keep his spot in the league, he dropped some incredible wisdom to the kids attending Coach Hines’ camp.
"Everybody here ain't Paul George or Siakam, you won't have the ball like that. You have to cut, do something, and be active. Find your niche."
-Patrick Beverley leaves a message at the Rico Hines basketball workshop.
(via @ricohinesbball, @Ballislife)pic.twitter.com/Z4Z4dVnAtE
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 16, 2022
“Everybody here ain’t Paul George, everybody here ain’t Siakam. The teams y’all go to, you’re not gonna have the ball like that, so y’all gotta do the little sh*t. Motherf***ing ball is in an isolation, you’re the cornerman, you can’t just wait in the corner for a 3. You gotta cut, you gotta do something, you gotta stay active. Defensively, everybody walking back but ain’t nobody running back. How good do y’all wanna be? That’s my message. Find your niche, find your role. Not everybody can be pulling up and shooting hesi-pullups, that’s just the reality. Find your niche and build off it.”
Being an NBA player is one of the hardest things to do. There are about 450 roster spots for millions of players around the world. Beverley symbolizes how hustling and hard work can get someone in the league. He isn’t a polished offensive player but can be relied on to defend and make the occasional open 3.
PG13 and Siakam are All-NBA caliber players that have proven that they should be highlighted players in their team’s offense. Not every player gets to that level and PatBev just gave the aspiring players at the camp a reality check about the NBA, similar to what Bradley Beal recently said to his AAU team.
