Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley revealed that the team’s issues are not basketball related on the latest edition of The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone.
“It wasn’t basketball,” Beverley said. “It wasn’t basketball. It wasn’t basketball. It was other s–t. But other s–t that you really can’t like pin or point out. You know, comes and goes. You know, a little bit here, a little bit there.”
It’s interesting Beverley says that the issues were not basketball related, as it was reported that the Lakers removed a “vampire” from the locker room when they traded away guard Russell Westbrook.
“The vibes were sometimes on, sometimes off,” Beverley said on his podcast. “Inconsistent vibes lead to inconsistent play.”
Unfortunately for Beverley, he was also moved at the trade deadline. The Lakers sent him to the Orlando Magic for big man Mo Bamba.
Los Angeles needed to add depth at center after it moved Thomas Bryant to the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers were active at the deadline, adding Bamba, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt to their roster.
Since being traded, Beverley has been waived by the Magic and is officially on the buyout market. He could end up getting picked up by a contender that needs depth at the guard position.
Orlando Magic announce they have waived Patrick Beverley.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 12, 2023
One team that could be interested in Beverley is the Miami Heat, as the team freed up a roster spot by trading away big man Dewayne Dedmon prior to the trade deadline.
Beverley would give the Heat some depth behind Gabe Vincent, as starting point guard Kyle Lowry is currently out of the lineup with a knee injury.
A solid defender, Beverley should be able to latch on with a team for the stretch run of the 2022-23 season. During his time with the Lakers this season, Beverley averaged 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists across 45 games. He shot 40.2 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from 3-point range.
The Lakers are now rolling with Dennis Schroder, Russell, Beasley, Lonnie Walker IV and Austin Reaves in their guard rotation.
Beverley had been a starter for the Lakers, but he didn’t give the team much of a punch on offense, especially early on in the season when he struggled shooting the ball from beyond the arc.
It will be interesting to see if the Lakers are able to fix the vibes within the team to make a playoff run this season.
