CHICAGO – As it turns out, mother nature was the first one to welcome a veteran NBA guard back to his hometown.

“The weather kinda made it ‘OK, I’m home now” when I got off the plane,” said Patrick Beverley when he arrived in Chicago on Wednesday on a cold, rainy, and blustury day.

It felt even more like home when he made his way to the Advocate Center on the west side as he took part in his first practice as a member of the Bulls. This comes after the guard signed with the team after a buyout from the Magic, whom he was traded to by the Lakers.

There were a few options for Beverley, a defensive guard who is in his 11th season in the NBA, but the appeal of a return to Chicago was too hard to pass up.

“The Bulls, obviously,” said Beverley when asked what appealed to him about the situation with the team during his first news conference with the team on Wednesday. “I get the chance to come home and kinda represent the city in a fashion that, later on in my career, I can do.”

Arriving in Chicago comes after a long basketball journey after his days as a standout at John Marshall High School. After two years at Arkansas, he played in Ukraine, Greece, and Russia before making his NBA debut in 2013.

He’s had lengthy stays with the Rockets (5 years) and Clippers (4 years), earning an All-NBA defensive first team selection in 2017 and two second team picks (2014,2020). Beverley’s bounced around a bit the last two years, playing the 2021-2022 campaign with the Timberwolves and the Lakers this season.

But coming home to finish his 11th season hits differently for the veteran, who said he’s gotten plenty of messages from family and friends as he joins the Bulls.

“Obviously honor,” said Beverley when asked about playing for his hometown team. “Obviously, the way I play, I’ll run through a wall for any team I play (for). Now it’s even more, it’s the city where I’m from, so I don’t know what might happen. I might pull out some (expletive) out that I’ve never did before.

“I’m super excited. I’m super stoked. I can’t wait to get started. Like I said, it’s good energy, fresh energy.”

He started 45 games for Los Angeles, averaging 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.6 contests a game. With the Bulls having trouble finding consistency at point guard with Lonzo Ball out of the lineup the entire season, Beverley could bring stability to that position as they make a run at the postseason.

“Energy and effort. Everything else is between the lines,” said Beverley when asked what he could bring to the team. “Like I said, the game is about putting the ball in the hole and stop the other team from putting the balls in the hoop.

“When it comes to shooting, when it comes to stopping people, I’m pretty good at that, so keep want to that going, and whatever my persona is, whatever my attitude is, I’ll kinda bring some of that on the team.”