Patrick Beverley loves to talk trash. It never really stops (even if it gets thrown back in his face now and again).
Beverley was talking a lot during the Clippers’ demolition of the Warriors on the opening night of the Chase Center. He didn’t just go at workers just there to clean up the building, he was going at Stephen Curry himself, according to Sean Deveny of Heavy.com.With 1:28 to play in the second quarter, Beverley forced Curry into a turnover, turned and jawed at the Golden State bench. Beverley then squared off with Curry at the other end of the floor and began talking trash.
“You had the last five years,” Beverley told Curry, according to a source. “The next five years are mine.”
To that,
Curry better get used to hearing a lot of smack talk thrown at him this season the way the Warriors look.
That said, Curry is right, Beverley is 31.
Five years may be projecting out too far with Los Angeles, and not just because Beverley will be 36. These Clippers are arguably the best team in the NBA right now and they haven’t even added Paul George to the mix yet. However, nobody should project this roster past the next two seasons. In the summer of 2021 both Kawhi Leonard and George will be free agents. The same is true of Lou Williams. (and there are other roster questions, like retaining Montrezl Harrell, who is a free agent this summer).
The Clippers plan to re-sign all of them (Williams may be the one question mark at age 35 that summer), and the plan is to keep this group together and winning, with just tinkering around the edges. Sounds good, but plans change. Attitudes change. Players change. Right now it’s all puppy dogs and rainbows around the Clippers, the relationships are new and they are winning. Will they all feel the same way 18 months from now? That’s a lifetime away in the NBA. Maybe George or Leonard want out, and that’s a summer deep with free agents, many who will be looking to team up with other stars.
The next two years may be Beverley’s. Maybe. The next five is asking a lot.