When the Los Angeles Lakers traded Talen Horton-Tucker, a young guard who hadn’t panned out after a promising start, and forward Stanley Johnson for veteran guard Patrick Beverley, some felt it was a shrewd move.
The thinking was Beverley would give the Lakers some much-needed defense and toughness on the perimeter, as well as even more needed 3-point shooting.
While Beverley, at times, has given them that defense and toughness, his 3-point shooting has been lacking.
Over his first 15 games, his 3-point shooting was as cold as Vermont during a polar vortex. He was hitting 23.4% from downtown, and even worse, he was at 26.8% overall.
Lakers fans were calling for Beverley to be traded or at least to be removed from the starting lineup.
But lately, he has turned his performance around. Even though plenty of people may not have noticed, it has been a pleasant surprise to those who have.
Beverley's December numbers have been very strong
In 12 games so far in December, Beverley has been shooting 50% overall and 39.5% from 3-point range. Those numbers are in line with his career averages; in fact, his overall shooting accuracy is well above his lifetime mark of 41.3%.
He may be following a similar path as last season, when he was at 40.7% overall and 31.2% from downtown in his first 32 contests only to convert 40.4 and 37.6%, respectively, over his final 26 games.
The Lakers might still trade him, especially since his expiring $13 million contract could offer salary cap relief to some other team. But if they don’t, he may just have some value to offer them moving forward if he keeps up his play of late.
