Patrick Beverley: Trade Bait

With the Rockets potentially looking to make a big move for Kevin Love or another star player this summer, we are going to take a moment to take stock of what is in the cupboard for Daryl Morey to offer. We assessed Terrence Jones, Chandler Parsons, Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin last week; today we look at Patrick Beverley.

If any of you are thinking that the Rockets would be making a terrible basketball decision by trading Patrick Beverley, you certainly would not be alone.

Beverley's ascension to an NBA roster was long, arduous, and certainly well documented. After bouncing around overseas for a while then being drafted and traded only to be cut, Beverly finally found a home in Houston and has firmly imbedded himself into the fabric of this roster.

There is no denying that Houston was markedly better with Beverley on the court. In my estimation, his ability coupled with his easily movable salary make him, not Lin or Asik or Parsons, Houston's best trade asset.

Contract situation

What situation? Beverley is entering the final year of a 3 year / $1.99 million contract with the Houston Rockets, and he's due a paltry 915,243 in the upcoming 2014-2015 season after which he becomes a restricted free agent. It would take a very small amount of cap wizardry to work him into any deal.

Value as Player

Harden and Howard maybe the headliners but Beverley is that undercard that people say was secretly better than the main event.

Entering his third year, Beverley is the Rockets' best perimeter defender hands down. Good enough to warrant 2^nd team All-Defense honors for his work during the 2013-2014 season, even. But more than that, he seems to give the Rockets a different identity when he's on the court. Probably because most everyone in the NBA not on Houston's roster would agree that he's a raging asshole. He hacks. He slaps. He trash talks and will guard you at every moment of the game - even when you're on the bench. He has no qualms about throwing his body down the lane while its clogged with much bigger men. That type of tenacity comes at a premium in the NBA.

Out of the thirty franchises in this here Association about 24 of them could benefit greatly from having Beverley on the court. The Minnesota Timberwolves are certainly on that list and we all saw how Beverley came out of nowhere to eventually take Jeremy Lin's starting role. Ricky Rubio has shown flashes of greatness here and there, but the defensively challenged Timberwolves would be hard pressed to pass up a deal that included a defender of Beverley's caliber.

Bottom Line

Any other GM would label Beverley as untouchable in this particular offseason but if the adage is true that in the NBA you want to trade coins for dollars then it's a good thing that Beverley's contract is basically worth pennies. Out of the current roster, no other player offers more ability at such a low price and adding him to any deal could certainly tip the trade haul our way. Trading Beverley away would be a huge gamble, but any GM would do it every day and twice on Sunday if you're getting Kevin Love in return.