Reject the Warriors! Goodbye Lakers
On February 22, the Bulls officially signed Beverly: “Welcome home”! Blackbay himself revealed on the podcast that he had a choice between the Warriors and the Bulls: to abandon the Warriors and join the Bulls. Beverly said, “The East is so weak now! When I join the Bulls, I can help them make the playoffs!”
Many players came from the East to the West. Beverley wanted to save the weak East. At this year’s trade deadline, the Lakers, Magic, Clippers and Nuggets completed a four-team trade in which the Lakers sent Beverley to the Magic and Thomas Bryant to the Nuggets for Bamba, Davin Reed and two second-round picks
The Magic didn’t keep Beverley and quickly cut her. His original one-year, $13 million contract expires this summer. The Heat, Clippers, Warriors and Bulls all wanted to sign Beverley with a minimum salary. “It’s good to play with the talent they have, but they have too many guards,” Beverley said of why she turned down the Warriors.
I have to say, Beverly’s mind is pretty clear. He was born on July 12, 1988, and will turn 35 this summer. Beverley wants more playing time and is willing to gamble on a two – or three-year deal this summer, unwilling to continue with a base salary. But, with Beverley’s performance this season, he may have to settle for a base salary.
Beverley averaged 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks in 26.9 minutes in 45 games for the Lakers this season. He shot 40.2 percent, 34.8 percent and 78 percent from the field. He averaged the second-lowest points, field goal and three-point percentage of his career. True shooting percentage 54.8 percent, 227th in the league.
Some people say, Beverley still has defense ah, statistics can’t reflect his role. That’s not entirely true. Beverley’s defensive quality has dropped significantly from its peak, and its offensive performance has been more sluggish. Beverley is good at playing with the opponent mentality, and the Bulls need a player with that kind of passion.
Beverley chose the Bulls for another important reason. He is a native of Chicago. His senior year, he averaged 26 points per game in the Chicago high school league. Many NBA players want to play for their hometown team and have family, friends and familiar fans here. The Bulls also have a Chicago native – Dotham.
It wasn’t easy for Beverley to make it to the NBA. As a junior in 2008-09, Beverley was suspended from the University of Arkansas for a year for cheating on an essay. In order to support her family, Beverley had to play in the Ukrainian second division. He was drafted 42nd overall by the Lakers in the 2009 draft and traded to the Heat.
Many second-round picks, even those drafted in the NBA, don’t sign with a team in the first place. Beverley is no different. He bounced around the Greek and Russian leagues over the next few seasons before hitting the NBA in 2012-13. Beverley could not have imagined that she would play more than 10 seasons in the NBA…
