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What began as a friendly prod to do the right thing turned into a revelation of long-standing relationships and realized plans years in the making as the Chicago Bulls held their first practice since the All-Star break in preparation for their tilt against the Brooklyn Nets on February 24.
It was the first with Patrick Beverley in the mix and, after the boisterous point guard said he would be on new teammate Zach LaVine, the Bulls’ franchise player gave his perspective.
“I was trying to get Pat here at least a year or two ago and I’ve been texting him,” LaVine said via the team’s official YouTube channel. “We used to be in the same agency so. He’s somebody you hate to play against but love as a teammate. You know what he brings, the type of mentality he brings so. And we’ve been missing that. I think we’ve been missing that since Thad [Young] was here. A vocal leader. Somebody that is very you know out and open with how you know how he thinks about things and how he approaches the game so it’s great to have a guy like that on your team.”
The Bulls’ scramble for point guard options upon the acceptance that Lonzo Ball was unlikely to return this season led the to be linked to several options including Beverley’s former nemesis-turned-teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers, Russell Westbrook. Westbrook ultimately signed with the rival Los Angeles Clippers.
It doesn’t hurt that he is firmly in the “shoot it” camp when it comes to LaVine.
“I seen today a couple shot where he kind of hesitated,” Beverley said. “I told him, your job here is not to pass at all. We don’t need you to pass, we need you to put the ball in the hole at an elite level.
Beverley added that it’s his “job to keep preaching on that” to LaVine.
His addition is by no means a secondary addition judging from his initial NSFW reaction on the ‘Pat Bev Podcast with Rone’ on February 21.
“Pat is somebody that can fill a lot of you know a lot of different roles so we’re just thankful to have him,” LaVine said. “Pat’s such a high IQ player, he goes out there and just plays hard so he’s gonna make an impact regardless.”
Patrick Beverley is a Different Kind of Connector for Bulls
Beverley is not the passer that Ball is. But he is still going to play a vital role for the Bulls as a connector, just in a different way. He spoke on his pre-existing relationships with DeMar DeRozan and head coach Billy Donovan which go back to high school and college, respectively, which should help what has sometimes been a tense triangle.
“Just got to learn how to finish,” Beverley said of the Bulls’ issues. “Those are good problems. You can adjust those. It doesn’t take a lot of cooks in the kitchen to kind of fix those types of problems.”
Previous reports have said LaVine has not completely gotten over Donovan benching him against the Orlando Magic earlier in the season.
There have also been multiple team meetings, specifically, between DeRozan and LaVine.
DeRozan has also been under a heavy burden to guide LaVine into better habits, Patrick Williams into being a consistent NBA player, and second-year guard Ayo Dosunmu into being a pro in general.
He has some help with all of those including the latter.
Donovan said that he was unsure whether Beverley would start or come off the bench. Either way, he figures to at least cut into Dosunmu’s playing time so it is good to see that their time together won’t soley consist of the youngster sacrificing with little benefit.
Bulls Still Alive in The Jumbled East
Beverley has not missed the postseason in four seasons. Despite the Bulls sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference and outside of the Play-In Tournament, they are still in the hunt to host their tournament matchup(s). They certainly have a lot of work to do just to get to that point thanks to a consistently inconsistent start.
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The 34-year-old Beverley will not be a cure-all but if he can provide that spark then the Bulls could be in business. At least that is what they have to believe for the final 23 games of what has been a disappointing season so far.
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