Patrick Beverley, Timberwolves agree to one-year extension

The Timberwolves have locked in one of their lockdown defenders for another season.

Guard Patrick Beverley and the team agreed to a one-year extension Monday worth $13 million, his agent Kevin Bradbury confirmed.

Beverley, 33, came to the Wolves in the final year of his current deal in a trade from Memphis over the summer. Since Beverley joined, his teammates and coaches have credited him with enhancing the culture on defense while providing leadership in the locker room.

"He's a guy that we value greatly, a guy that we want to go forward with," coach Chris Finch said recently. "His leadership has been phenomenal. We knew it was going to be good, it's been even better than expected. His production and play on court has been really, really good. Changes personality on our team in a lot of ways."

Beverley is one of the most vocal Wolves players, whether he's on the court or off. He came to Minnesota and expressed a desire to stick around beyond this year from the start of training camp.

The Wolves always wanted to get a deal done, and that became easier in the wake of a trade deadline in which the Wolves made no moves and had more certainty about their roster situation headed into next season. Beverley was making $14.3 million this season.

His signing is the first significant deal that affects the roster beyond this year made by Executive Vice President Sachin Gupta since he took over the day to day operations for Gersson Rosas in September.

"It's been great here," Beverley said recently. "Especially trying to establish a culture, a winning culture here. … They allowed me to be myself here. Allowed me to do my thing, and that's affected [the team] on and off the court."

One reason the Wolves didn't make any moves at the deadline was because of the culture and chemistry the current roster has generated, with Beverley playing a big part in establishing that.

Beverley is averaging 9.0 points per game and shooting 34% from three-point range while starting 34 of the 38 games he has played. He began the season coming off the bench before Finch moved him to the starting lineup, and the Wolves defense helped lead the team past a 3-7 start.

Beverley has missed 19 games this season for various reasons, including a sprained right ankle and left adductor strain.

The Wolves' defense ranks 16th in efficiency after struggling in recent weeks but the starting lineup of which Beverley is a part has the second-highest net rating in the league (plus-23.1) of any five-man lineup combination that has played at least 200 minutes together.