Patrick Beverly, whose contract with the Los Angeles Clippers is entering its final year, is the longest-serving player on the team, and he recently publicly revealed his desire to renew his contract with the Clippers, but he is 32 years old (and will turn 33 in less than a week), and he is not yet a key player in the team's future.
So Beverly would never want to wait until the free agent market opens to talk to the Clippers about a contract extension, after all, Beverley still has a little chip in his hands, and he is perfect for Donovan Mitchell in this year's playoff series against the Utah Jazz, and he also has a good performance against Chris Paul and Devon Booker in the Western Conference Final against the Suns. In contrast, waiting another year will lead to more disadvantages for Beverley, such as the potential threat of injury, and the possibility of being completely squeezed out of the rotation by the likes of Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard or Mann, at which point Beverley's value will be lower and lower, which is why Beverley is so anxious to renew his contract with the Clippers.
According to the NBA's latest regulations, as long as a player has an existing contract of more than three years and two years have passed since the signing of the contract, then he is eligible to renew his team early, and Beverley signed a three-year contract with the Clippers in the summer of 2019, so he has actually met both conditions.
Under the terms of the veteran's contract extension, Beverley can add a four-year contract worth up to $77.4 million to the current contract, with a starting salary of $14.2 million for the 2021-22 season, but we all know that Beverley is not that valuable, and the Clippers will not give him so much money. The Clippers are currently very tight on salary space and will face huge luxury taxes, george and Kenard's contracts will take effect this year, and Kawhi Leonard will sign a new contract extension, Jackson and Batum are also facing re-signing, because both of them have a good play in this year's playoffs, so the price of the new contract will rise. In this case, the Clippers, while owning Beverley's Bird rights and being able to keep Beverley when the total salary exceeds the salary cap, does not mean that they will, or should, do so.
Beverley's role on the court is very limited, he is a constant injury guard, and he does not have any scoring explosiveness, which is really not too attractive for a team that aspires to a championship, so although he can still play some role in the Clippers, the Clippers will never spend too much money on him just because of this role. The Clippers' best bet is naturally to let Beverley finish his current contract (which lasts until June 30, 2022), which is a bit impersonal, but it can give the Clippers a fuller understanding of whether Beverley can stay healthy and how to fit into the team when healthy, and then offer him a contract extension as appropriate.
Usually, signing a contract extension early is to exchange a player for a new contract with a longer annual salary at the expense of a part of the annual salary, but beverley's situation does not seem to be the case, after all, early renewal will be more favorable to Beverly, and the Clippers will suffer more unless he can sign a three-year low-cost contract with the team far below the market value like Lou Wei did in 2018. It's hard to see at the moment that the Clippers will meet Beverley's request for an early contract extension because the free agent market hasn't opened yet, the Clippers have too much uncertainty about the point guard position, and if they can get a guard of Conley or Lowry's level, then Beverley will not have any position at all.