Patrick Beverley (HOU, PG) - Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Everyone knows Patrick Beverley is a defensive pest. An aggressive, max effort guy that gets under other teams' skin. Just ask Russell Westbrook. It's a nice wrinkle in real life for the Rockets, but for fantasy purposes he was essentially just Jason Maxiell. Beverley has stepped up his offense of late, though, and as such is becoming much more fantasy relevant.

Beverley has scored at least 10 points in each of the last five games and continues to bring very strong steal totals to the table as well. On Tuesday, Beverley put up 10 points with five steals and three assists. The scoring totals aren't anything amazing, but a lot of his points are coming from three-point territory, which gives Beverley some added value as he contributes in multiple categories.

The thing to keep an eye on here is the complement of minutes that Beverley is receiving. As long as he is in the starting backcourt with James Harden, he has value. Ty Lawson and Jason Terry have been moved to the bench and Beverley has been starting since Thanksgiving. He is averaging just under 30 minutes a game during that span, and has averaged 1.8 threes, 2.2 steals, and (surprisingly) 1.2 blocks over 5 starts.  If he can continue to put strong up value in scarce categories like that, it will not matter that he doesn't produce much in points, assists, or rebounds.