Patrick Beverley suspension is a blessing in disguise for Lakers
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers will be without Patrick Beverley for the team’s next three games. In Tuesday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns, Beverley shoved Deandre Ayton for posing over Austin Reaves, earning himself an ejection and a three-game suspension.
The next three games are not necessarily tough ones for the Lakers with the team taking on the San Antonio Spurs in back-to-back games before heading to the midwest to take on the Indiana Pacers.
While a three-game sample size is nothing big, it actually could be a blessing in disguise for the purple and gold. Not having Beverley in the rotation — while also having a fully healthy guard rotation besides him — could provide exactly the kind of eye-opener for Darvin Ham that fans have been waiting for.
Patrick Beverley’s suspension could cause big changes in the Lakers rotation.
To say that Patrick Beverley has been a disappointment would be an understatement. While the Lakers knew they were not getting prime Beverley when they traded Talen Horton-Tucker for him, the results still have not been what the team was hoping for.
Beverley has been one of the worst offensive players in the entire sport this season. The 34-year-old guard is averaging 4.1 points in 27.4 minutes per game while shooting 26.6% from the field and 23.8% from three. His offensive Box Plus/Minus is -5.6, which ranks 221st out of 222 players with at least 300 minutes played this season.
Offense was never Beverley’s strong suit but it is not like his defense has made up for his terrible offense. Beverley has been fine defensively but with the team as a whole playing better defense than anticipated, his defensive impact is not as important as it was projected to be.
Thus, the Lakers essentially have another THT situation on their hands from last season where THT’s offense was horrendous and his defense was not good enough to warrant him being a consistent member of the rotation. But because last year’s team was so bad, THT still got playing time.
This suspension could be the first domino to fall towards Beverley not playing a big role on this Lakers team. Darvin Ham will be able to see how this rotation looks without Beverley, giving more minutes to Dennis Schroder instead.
Beverley is not going to be instantly axed from the rotation, but we could see him get a smaller role upon his return from suspension. From there, it could start turning the wheels in the front office’s mind, potentially leading to a future Beverley trade.
Beverley is one of a few Lakers not named Russell Westbrook that the Lakers could try and trade this season because of his contract and this suspension could kickstart that momentum.
Patrick Beverley might have won himself over with Lakers fans because of his actions in protecting Austin Reaves but it also might have been the start of his downfall when it comes to his role in the purple and gold.