Kings Free Agency Target Profile: Patrick Beverley

Welcome to KHTK’s Kings free agency profiles! Here we’ll be breaking down some of the top players the Kings should target in free agency, analyzing their career numbers, fit with the Kings and potential downsides. We’ll also assign a priority score to each player, signifying how strongly the Kings should consider pursuing a given free agent.

The Player

Defense and intensity. Those would be the two best words to describe Patrick Beverley. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Houston Rockets before being sent to the Clippers in the Chris Paul trade. Over his career, he has averaged 9.0 points per game, 3.5 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 380 career games (300 starts). The fearless, pesky defender has also notched a pair of All-Defense selections for his tenacity on that end of the floor.

The Fit

Possibly the best thing Beverley can offer the Kings is the chance to pair him with De’Aaron Fox. Fox is now entering his third season and there hasn’t had much of a veteran presence for the starting point guard. George Hill was there in Fox’s rookie season, but was traded to give Fox the starting spot. Beverley would enter as Fox’s backup and would be able to mentor and maybe even get the 21-year-old to play with more intensity than what he does.

What Beverley offers on the court is elite perimeter defense. He’s a tough, physical player who’ll go at the opposing team’s best player no matter the position. That mindset is something the Kings have lacked for awhile now. Beverley isn’t afraid to guard anybody in the league, whether it be Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant. That type of mentality is something that can be infectious to younger players.

The Catch

While the Kings have plenty of cap space, they might have to overpay for Beverley to come to Sacramento. Beverley has become a starting-quality player but with Fox already having the starting job locked down, they would probably have to offer Beverley more money to come off the bench.

This shouldn’t scare off the Kings, however. Beverley is the type of player they should be looking to add and sometimes for that, teams have to pay more. Rumors have swirled that he is looking for a three-year, $40 million deal. Sacramento would probably have to shell out more than the $13 million annually — a price they should be willing to pay.

The Priority

There might not be a better fit for the Kings in free agency at the point guard position. Beverley would check a few boxes for needs in the backcourt, and be able to step into somewhat of a mentorship role with the young Kings.

Priority score: 9/10

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