Aug. 17—The Timberwolves added a veteran presence, defensive toughness and a backup point guard on Tuesday when they acquired Patrick Beverley in a trade with Memphis. A source confirmed the deal, first reported by ESPN, to the Pioneer Press

The Timberwolves are sending Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez to the Grizzlies.

Beverley, 33, has primarily been a backup point guard during an NBA career that started with Houston in 2012-13 after he played professionally overseas. Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas was part of the Rockets' front office during Beverley's time in Houston. There, he saw Beverley make the NBA's all-defensive team — first team in 2017 — while averaging 9.3 points and 3.4 assists in five seasons.

Minnesota was in need of a legitimate backup point guard after dealing Ricky Rubio to Cleveland on draft night. Beverley is a gnat-like player who constantly pesters opponents and has played for a handful of winning teams in his career. He's also a solid spot-up shooter — a constant need for all teams.

Minnesota took back about $800 thousand more in salary in the deal after it saved about $4 million in the Rubio for Taurean Prince swap.

Culver was the Timberwolves first-round pick in 2019, sixth overall, but so far has not proven himself an effective NBA player. He played 63 games and made 35 starts as a rookie while averaging 9.2 points and 1.7 assists in 2019 but last season played in only 34 games, largely because of a Jan. 25 ankle injury that later required season-ending surgery.

Rosas' first first-round pick as the Wolves' personnel chief, Culver was a weak shooter on a weak-shooting team, making 40.6 percent of his field goals in two seasons and shooting a combined 28 percent from 3-point range. Beverley, by contrast, is a career 38.2 percent shooter from long range who made 40 percent of those shots in 2015-16 and 2017-18.

Last season with the Clippers, Beverley shot 39.7 percent from 3-point range and 42 percent from the field, and he was second-team all-defence in 2019-20.

The trade shows Rosas' willingness to let go of players he missed on, from Culver to Hernangomez, for whom Minnesota traded in 2020 and subsequently re-signed the following offseason. A power forward, Hernangomez averaged 6.6 points and four rebounds in 100 games for the Wolves.