Patrick Beverley is no stranger to making bold claims and assumptions. He last played in the NBA during the 2023-24 season, splitting time between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks. Since leaving the NBA due to no team signing him, he has made several interesting claims. Recently, he talked about the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty and how different it could have been if they had another player.
Pat Bev: Warriors Would Have Won More With Another Star
Of course, this is only an opinion by a former player, but it is worth taking a look at it. Bev believes that if we take a look at the careers of Klay Thompson and Paul George, they could have been vastly different. In a recent podcast, speaking about the careers of those two, he said,
“If you put Paul George in that role as Klay Thompson, playing with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala. We know Paul George, a couple of years ago, was in the MVP race. If you substitute those two, we don’t know, but we are going off what we know about basketball. I think that Golden State probably wins more championships.”
“If you put Paul George in that role as Klay Thompson, playing with Steph [Curry], Draymond Green, and [Andre] Iguodala… I think that Golden State probably wins more championships.”
— Pat Bev
(
@PatBevPod / h/t @ClutchPoints )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 23, 2025
That statement brings an interesting “what if.” For example, let’s say the Warriors win back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016. Do they go after Kevin Durant? Or do they continue and maybe three-peat? Will Durant win a title if he doesn’t join the Warriors? We could look at the careers of George, Durant, and Thompson in such a potential scenario. Or we can go further: will LeBron James win a title in Cleveland? It is safe to say that he might have had. After all, LeBron and the Cavs dominated the East, but they couldn’t get over the Warriors with KD. But the Golden State Warriors dynasty could have looked different, that is for sure.
Comparing George and Thompson’s Careers
Now, let’s take a look at how George and Thompson performed during the late 2010s and whether that could have brought more titles for the Warriors. Of course, this is all hypothetical, but it is a fun mental game.
Before we go further, let’s remind ourselves that the Warriors made the Finals from 2015 to 2019. During that period, they won three titles and lost two Finals. One was the epic seven-game series in 2016 against LeBron and the Cavs. The other was in 2019, when both Klay and KD were hurt in the Finals against the Raptors.
The stretch we have to take a look at is from the 2015-16 season to the 2018-19 season. The 2015-16 season is one where we can hypothetically say that PG was a way better player. That year, he was the leading guy on the Indiana Pacers and made the All-Star team, the All-NBA third team, and the All-Defensive second team. At the time, Klay was also praised as a good defender, but he was not close to George. PG averaged 23.1 points, seven rebounds, and 4.1 assists that season. Klay was close with 22.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. Yet, Klay shot way better from three-point range.
The trade-off between the two is that George was a much better defender. During the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, he finished in the top five in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Just imagine the Warriors with not one, but two DPOY candidates in PG and Draymond.
Of course, this is all hypothetical. But it is worth looking at it in a way that rings do not always define a player. To be honest, during the 2010s, any All-Star could have won a title alongside Steph. That is how good Chef Curry was.
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