Getty Patrick Beverley of the Los Angeles Lakers guards Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers. Beverley has been linked to the Golden State Warriors.
The NBA Trade Deadline has come and gone for the Golden State Warriors. They shipped out former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, in a four-team deal that brought Gary Payton II back to the Bay. Payton won’t be suiting up anytime soon, as he is recovering from an abdominal injury.
If the Warriors want to further strengthen their roster ahead of the playoffs, they’ll be able to do so through the buyout market.
On February 17, HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan listed the Warriors as candidates to land “the most attractive option,” Patrick Beverley.
“The market for guards isn’t particularly robust, with few teams in need of another ball handler. Beverley might be the most attractive option of the group because he’s a defensive specialist,” Gozlan wrote. “A return to Minnesota makes a lot of sense, given his previous success with the team last season. The Warriors could really use Beverley to help improve their bench defense while Gary Payton II is out.”
Beverley has been selected to one of the NBA’s All-Defensive Teams three times throughout his career. He was named to the Second Team in 2013-14 and 2019-20, and to the first in 2016-17. The 34-year-old appeared in 45 games for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, before being traded to the Orlando Magic, who eventually bought him out of his contract.
James Wiseman Speaks For First Time Since Warriors Trade
Wiseman suited up for his new team, the Detroit Pistons, for the first time since being traded away from the Warriors last week.
His debut came in a loss to the league-best Boston Celtics, but the 21-year-old looked just fine.
The 21-year-old looked pretty comfortable in his new threads on February 15. He scored 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds in 23 minutes in Detroit’s 127-109 loss to Boston.
Following his first game as a Piston, Wiseman discussed the transition away from the Warriors.
“It’s just different names,” Wiseman told The Atheltic’s James L. Edwards III when asked about the new plays he has to remember. “Same offenses, but just different names. I was out there hesitant, trying to figure out what to do. I’m going to get it.”
The seven-footer seems motivated to thrive in his new situation, telling Edwards he felt he could’ve been better, in what was a solid debut.
“I could do better,” he said. “My wind got to me a little bit. I’m going to do way better when I get my conditioning up.”
Steve Kerr Was Sad to See James Wiseman Traded From Warriors
In 60 games for Golden State over the course of three seasons, Wiseman averaged only 18.3 minutes a game. But, that doesn’t mean that head coach Steve Kerr wasn’t sorry to see him go.
“It’s hard on a personal level, because of our affection for James, and the talent level. I was all-in on taking James when we did, I was part of the group, and loved the ability, loved everything we saw,” Kerr told reporters at a February 13 press conference. “You can’t always foresee the circumstances. At the time we had the worst record in the league, Klay had just torn his Achilles. We didn’t really know where we were as a team. Frankly, we didn’t know we would win a championship just a year and a half later. I think the important thing … is in this league, and in all sports, you have to move forward. You can’t look back. You have to move forward and make whatever moves that are necessary to allow you to succeed in the present state of the team and going forward.”