When Patrick Beverley attended his introductory press conference on Tuesday after joining the Los Angeles Lakers, Russell Westbrook appeared and threw him a towel to wipe his sweat from the previous workout at the team's practice facility.

Westbrook also delivered him an assist during that workout.

"Love that brother," Beverley said. "First dime of the year."

Landing Beverley was one of the best transactions the purple and gold completed during the NBA offseason. He was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2017 and selected for the All-Defensive Second Team twice in 2014 and 2020. More importantly, he doesn't need to handle the ball too much, keeps a 37.8-percent of 3-point rate for his career and can make 1.6 triples per game.

Theoretically, Beverley is the perfect point guard to play along LeBron James. His defensive ability as a point of attack can also help ease the pressure on Anthony Davis.

There were concerns over if Beverley and Westbrook can get along judging by their history. Westbrook suffered a tear in his right meniscus after colliding with Beverley in Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets on April 24, 2013. The injury cost Westbrook the following games of the postseason, leaving Kevin Durant struggling to carry the team by himself. The Thunder were knocked out in the Western Conference semifinals later.

Westbrook and Beverley criticized each other a lot in the past years. Westbrook said Beverley was never a good defender. "Pat Bev trick y'all, man, like he playing defense," he once told reporters. "He don't guard nobody, man. It's just running around, doing nothing."

Beverley hit back later. "He (Westbrook) damaged my career," he said. "Like, coaching staffs and players, fans, they looked at me way different. They looked at me like, 'You know what? He don't play defense. He just yells and runs around.' And held on to that and held on to that. And some people still do."

The interaction between the two at Tuesday's press conference was a good sign. So was Beverley's answer when asked about how he feels playing with Westbrook. "I was asked this question two-three years ago, [about] someone I always wanted to play with and [Westbrook] was the first name. I have [known] Bron since I was a baby, a rookie in this league, so obviously I want to play with him," he said.

Lakers' head coach Darvin Ham is confident that Beverley and Westbrook can coexist on the court. "If they play defense. We've got a while. That's still a way off, but definitely," Ham said. "People get caught up in the starting lineups a lot, but you look at who is finishing games. Those starters, they're out there to set that tone for the entire team throughout the game. But, I'm not scared of that. It's definitely a bullet in the chamber. We're looking forward to it, man, those guys in the backcourt together, man."