MARCH 30th, 7:52pm: Beasley has hired ASM Sports to represent him, which would eliminate the opportunity for him to return to Florida State, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
MARCH 21st, 8:15pm: Florida State has announced that freshman Malik Beasley will enter the NBA draft, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Goodman doesn’t believe Beasley is simply taking advantage of new regulations that allow players to work out for NBA teams without losing their eligibility, suggesting his ultimate decision may match up with that of fellow FSU freshman Dwayne Bacon Jr. (Twitter link).
A 6’4″ shooting guard, Beasley averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Seminoles, whose season ended last week with a loss to Valparaiso in the NIT. ESPN draft specialist Chad Ford puts him “firmly on the first-round bubble” (Twitter link). Ford has Beasley listed 45th overall and eighth among shooting guards in his latest mock draft. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress puts Beasley 32nd on his list of the top 100 prospects.
Beasley would have been “foolish” not to enter the draft this year, tweets Mike Schmitz of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. In his evaluation of the 19-year-old, Schmitz says Beasley offers athleticism, shooting and slashing ability and is particularly dangerous in the open court. Question marks include his abilities as a shot creator, playmaker and defender.