Congratulations, Boston Celtics fans. You are now in line to receive more of Patrick Beverley's patented ricochet shots.
Beverley, a veteran of 11 NBA seasons, has never been afraid to get under people's skin. Known as much for his trash talk as he is for his tenacious defense, the 34-year-old has made lots of enemies throughout his career. Now, he's got a whole new audience to rile up.
After being traded and bought out following the NBA's trade deadline, Beverley entered uncharted waters in 2023. He has finally found himself playing in the Eastern Conference, signing with the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
First up on the agenda: insulting the best teams in the conference.
"It was between Golden State and the Bulls," Beverley said of his post-buyout options on the Pat Bev Pod, per Farbod Esnaashari of SI.com. "Obviously, it's always good to play with a lot of great talent in Golden State, but you know, a lot of guards over there. So, I figured I could make a playoff push with the Bulls right now, and kind of pop them up a little bit.
"The East is kind of weak. I'm excited man, I'm excited."
That's quite the stance from Beverley, who was traded away from a 25-31 Los Angeles Lakers squad and is now joining a 26-33 Chicago squad that isn't even in a position to make the play-in tournament.
The Celtics, of course, have the best record in the NBA at 42-17, leading a conference that has four teams with a winning percentage above .600. The Western Conference has just two teams with a winning percentage that high.
It could be argued that the West is more competitive, with third and 10th seeds separated by a total of four games, but Beverley's new squad is much closer to earning a top-five lottery pick than advancing into the playoffs.
Beverley's addition to the East will certainly be good for content, but likely won't have an effect on the Celtics or any of the other NBA Finals contenders in the conference.
