BOSTON – Patrick Beverley signed with the Heat in 2010, finally realizing his NBA dream.
Or so it seemed.
Two years earlier, he turned in a paper written by someone else, ending his time at Arkansas. From there, he played in Ukraine’s second division and then spent a season as a little-used reserve with Olympiakos in Greece.
But Miami cut Beverley, and a handful of tryouts with other NBA teams went nowhere.
“I almost wanted to give up, but – I actually did,” Beverley said. “I wanted to focus on my career overseas.”
Beverley hasn’t shown a moment of relenting since.
He returned to Europe and improved. The Rockets gave him a chance, and not only did he become a starter, he has developed into the NBA’s most tenacious point guard.
Soon, Houston must decide how much it values Beverley, who will become a restricted free agent this summer.
Beverley became infamous when he crashed into Russell Westbrook’s knees while going for a steal just before a timeout in the 2013 playoffs, but that wasn’t a cheap attempt to injure a star. As we’ve learned in the years since, that’s just how Beverley plays.
His most notable feud is with Damian Lillard, but Beverley has no shortage of opponents he has irked, including:
DeMarcus Cousins:
Marc Gasol:
Rudy Gay:
Yet, Beverley has become more than just a sideshow pest.
He’s a main-attraction pest.
As NBA point guards are more impactful than ever – an extremely talented crop playing when rules and style emphasize their position – Beverley serves as a defensive foil. He guards his man tightly, stomping all over the line of what grates opponents and what makes him effective.
His impact in Houston is undeniable. The Rockets ranked 19th in points allowed per possession when Beverley made his NBA debut in January 2013. The rest of that season, they ranked 14th. Last year, they moved up to 12th. This season, they rank seventh.
Beverley’s biggest contribution to Houston, though, is his low salary. Because they locked up their starting point guard on a minimum contract, the Rockets have freed money to splurge on other parts of the roster.
Only the Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson, a rookie drafted in the second round, makes less among starting point guards than Beverley’s $915,243:
The Rockets good fortune on that front – created because they wisely signed Beverley to a three-year contract before he proved himself in the NBA – is running out, though.
Beverley is in the final season of his deal. How much would Houston, which holds his Bird Rights, pay to keep him?
Assessing Beverley’s value is difficult, because he’s unlike any other point guard in the league. Among starters, he ranks:
21st in points per game at 10.8:
28th in assists per game at 3.3:
27th in usage percentage at 16.7:
26th in minutes of possession per game at 4.1:
23rd in touches per game at 64.6:
The only other players consistently in his range are either rookies (Elfrid Payton), new starters (D.J. Augustin) or both (Marcus Smart, Dante Exum and Clarkson).
But as limited a role as Beverley plays, he deserves credit for not overextending himself. A 3-and-D point guard, he takes 59 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and makes 39 percent of those. Beverley, who met his goal of making the All-Defensive second team last season, is also a standout defender at a position where there are few. Chris Paul, Mike Conley and Rajon Rondo are the only other active point guards who’ve made an All-Defensive team. Paul and Rondo are past their defensive primes, though John Wall is emerging as another strong contender for the honor.
Of course, part of the reason Beverley doesn’t handle the ball as often is because he shares a backcourt with James Harden, one of the NBA’s preeminent shooting guards. However, that’s not entirely coincidental. No matter where Beverley ended up, his team would have seen his limitations and sought to pair him with a high-volume off guard.
Does Houston like this arrangement, keeping the ball in Harden’s hands so often?
“We ask him to do a lot – probably too much,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “I wish we had more guys that could make more plays to help alleviate some pressure from him.”
The NBA’s curious inclusion of him in the skills challenge notwithstanding, that probably won’t ever be Beverley. He can spot-up and slash, but his court vision is only so-so for his position.
And that makes me wonder: How badly do the Rockets want to keep Beverley?
They’ve made no secret about their pursuit of a third star to go with Harden and Dwight Howard. They tried to trade for Rajon Rondo, and they’ve also been linked to Deron Williams and Goran Dragic. It’d be no surprise if that third star is a point guard.
The Rockets already let Chandler Parsons walk to preserve flexibility, and they’ll face a similar conundrum with Beverley.
For now, Beverley will maintain his large defensive and small offensive roles as Houston strives to advance deep in the playoffs. And his actions will show he’s definitely not the word he used to describe himself five years ago:
“Content.”
Soon enough, though, the Rockets must decide whether they’re content with him.