Timberwolves' Patrick Beverley enjoying his time in Minnesota, wants it to continue

DETROIT – Patrick Beverley said life in Minnesota has been a lot calmer than he anticipated before he arrived.

"Instead of seeing water, you open your window you see all white snow," Beverley said. "It's a beautiful scene."

It's not one Beverley is eager to give up anytime soon. With a week to go before the NBA's trade deadline on Feb. 10, activity around the league has started to increase, and Beverley's name popped as a name the Wolves discussed with the Celtics, along with Malik Beasley, in a potential package for guard Marcus Smart.

At this point in his career, the 33-year-old Beverley has been in multiple trades and involved in even more rumors. The trade talk doesn't faze him.

"My check don't change," Beverley said. "Maybe the location does and maybe a little bit of taxes, but mine don't change."

There's always the matter of procuring a set of new checks, though, and Beverley is due to be a free agent after the season. Along those lines, he said wants to be in Minnesota

"It's been great here," Beverley said "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."

Beverley is eligible for an in-season contract extension and the Wolves would like to have him around, especially as they make a push for the playoffs for just the second time since 2004. Beverley has helped transform the attitude of the Wolves and helped make their defense better than it has been in recent seasons.

"He's a guy that we value greatly, a guy that we want to go forward with," coach Chris Finch said. "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."

With the deadline looming, Finch said the Wolves' recent strong play has shown how much depth the Wolves have. As a result, there doesn't seem to be a pressing need to make major changes.

"Guys are settling into their roles, but mainly we don't feel any great pressure to do anything with this roster at this point in time," Finch said. "We're pretty happy with where we are and guys are playing well and being the best versions of themselves as we thought they could be."

Finch, who speaks often with executive vice president Sachin Gupta about what the roster may need, added the Wolves aren't a "finished product. But he said the Wolves might not want to interrupt growth the team has had since the beginning of the season, especially since a playoff chance and playoff games can crystallize where a team or individual players might need to improve.

"We don't feel any great pressure to have to do something right now," Finch said. "But internal growth is always going to be the best accelerant for teams to take the next step."