Patrick Beverley is on the move again. Two days after being acquired by the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a trade sending Eric Bledsoe to the LA Clippers, Beverley is headed to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for forwards Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez in a deal reported Tuesday by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
What are the implications of the Grizzlies adding another player to a roster that was already overstuffed with guaranteed contracts? And how will Beverley fit with the Timberwolves?
Timberwolves get: Patrick Beverley
Grizzlies get: Jarrett Culver, Juancho Hernangomez
Minnesota Timberwolves: B+
For the Timberwolves, this sort of feels like part two of a trade sequence that began when they sent Ricky Rubio to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Taurean Prince on draft night in a deal that also yielded a 2022 second-round pick and cash.
Put these two trades together and Minnesota has essentially swapped out Rubio for Beverley as a veteran point guard while turning forwards Culver and Hernangomez into Prince. The combination saves the Timberwolves a bit of money (the three players they sent out will make a combined $31 million this season, as compared to $27 million for the two players coming back) and upgrades their shooting considerably.
In particular, Beverley looks like a nice fit in Minnesota's backcourt alongside 2020 No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards, a combination I'd expect to see quite a bit when starting point guard D'Angelo Russell is on the bench next season.
Under new head coach Chris Finch, who took over in February, the Timberwolves developed Edwards into a more frequent pick-and-roll ball handler. He received 26.1 ball screens per 100 possessions under Finch, according to Second Spectrum tracking, more than what Rubio (24.6) got. Under former head coach Ryan Saunders, Rubio had been running pick-and-roll about 75% more frequently than Edwards.
Having Rubio, a 31% 3-point shooter last season, spacing the floor when Edwards is handling the ball was something of a challenge. Beverley, who hit 40% of his 3s last season and is at 38% for his career, is a better fit for that kind of off-ball role. He's also one of the strongest defensive options in the league at point guard.
Given Beverley's injury history -- he played just 37 of 72 games last season -- Minnesota will want to have a reliable backup for him. That could be restricted free agent Jordan McLaughlin. Assuming they sign 2020 first-round pick Leandro Bolmaro, the Timberwolves have about $7 million available under the luxury-tax line to re-sign McLaughlin and fellow restricted free agent Jarred Vanderbilt.
Memphis Grizzlies: B-
It's surprising to see the Grizzlies on the opposite side of a roster-clearing deal, given they already added two guaranteed contracts with Sunday's trade landing Beverley, Daniel Oturu and Rajon Rondo from the Clippers. Memphis now has 18 guaranteed contracts, three more than the limit of 15 at the start of the regular season.
In fact, the Grizzlies have pulled off the rare feat of running over the NBA's 20-player maximum for offseason rosters. Barring another trade before this one is finalized, Memphis will have to waive a player just to complete it because of those 18 plus two players on two-way contracts (Sean McDermott and Killian Tillie) and one more (undrafted rookie Yves Pons) on a training camp contract.
Unlike Sunday's trade, there's no long-term financial benefit to this one for the Grizzlies. (They do save about a million dollars in 2021-22 salary.) So they must be interested in at least one of the two players they acquired from the Timberwolves, more likely Culver. We're barely two years removed from Culver being drafted No. 6 overall after leading Texas Tech to the NCAA title game.
Alas, Culver's jumper has yet to develop as hoped at the NBA level, which has limited his value. He shot 30% beyond the arc as a rookie, when he started 35 of his 63 games, and dropped to 24.5% last season as his minutes plummeted. Culver also hasn't proved as adept off the dribble as in college, resulting in ugly true shooting percentages (.467 as a rookie and .476 last season, when the league average was .572).
Memphis can take a look at Culver's development in training camp before deciding on his $8.1 million team option for 2022-23. Exercising the option would likely take the Grizzlies out of using cap space next summer.
As for Hernangomez, his shooting hasn't developed as expected, either. It was supposed to be a strength for Hernangomez, who hit 41% of his 3s as a promising rookie for the Denver Nuggets. Since then, he has made just 34% from long distance, worse than league average. Hernangomez parlayed a strong 14-game run as a starter after being traded to Minnesota at the 2020 deadline into a three-year contract, but he started just six games last season.
The Timberwolves did provide an out with a nonguaranteed final season of the contract in 2022-23, meaning Memphis could waive Hernangomez and owe nothing beyond this year.