5:17pm: The deal is now official, per the Knicks’ press release.
2:19pm: The Knicks are closing in on a contract agreement with former second overall pick Michael Beasley, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). According to Scotto, Beasley and the Knicks are nearing a one-year deal.
The two sides are expected to finalize the terms of an agreement later today, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com. While neither Scotto nor Begley provides specific details on those terms, the Knicks have used up all their cap room and signed Ron Baker with their room exception, so Beasley appears to be in line for a minimum salary pact.
Selected one spot after Derrick Rose in the 2008 draft, Beasley spent two seasons with the Heat, and has since played for the Timberwolves, Suns, Rockets, and Bucks. He also had a second stint in Miami, and played multiple seasons in China. Prior to the 2016/17 campaign, Beasley was traded from Houston to Milwaukee in exchange for Tyler Ennis.
While he never lived up to his pre-draft billing, Beasley – who is now 28 years old – continued to provide value as a scorer off the bench in Milwaukee last season. In 56 games for the Bucks, the veteran forward averaged 9.4 PPG with a career-best .532 FG% and .419 3PT%.
Beasley figures to play a similar role in New York, giving the team some scoring punch off the bench. Of course, if the Knicks ultimately find a trade they like involving Carmelo Anthony, that could open the door for Beasley to take on a larger role.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nice, Beasley could replace Melo.
LOL, seriously? Other than size and position (and defensive effort), Beasley is nowhere near Melo as far as skills.
Dionis can only see players at the highest potential they ever had in their career, whether or not that potential was ever even realized. That or he just trolls.
I don’t know if he could totally replace his numbers but I would bet pretty close, people immediately yell no way, but what they don’t consider is it’s all about opportunity, consistent minutes and freedom to play through mistakes, some guys get all that early on and other guys don’t due to situation ect. Beasley is incredibly talented offensively and if he got iso touches all game all season like melo gets and 20+ shots a game, he would average 20+ppg too. It’s kind of like when rashad McCants was talking about how it’s all about opportunity for all those things I listed and he said Gerald green could have been as good as Lebron, lol now that’s prob a little extreme but I bet green could have been a 20+ a game scorer for a few years had he been given minutes and freedom to play through mistakes, dude is one of best athletes ever and he can shoot and get shot off anytime.
Beasley for MVP!
You lost me when you quoted Rashad McCants
Was at a Boston vs Knicks game end of March roughly and Gerald Green put on an absolute show in the warm ups. I was there with people who weren’t very big NBA fans and they had a hard time believing me when I said he was going to come off the bench and wouldn’t score more than a bucket or two. He was draining nearly every single shot he took including probably 90% of his 3’s and then sure enough when the game started he got a couple open looks and put up bricks.
Beasley is an at the very most a 10 minute a night guy. That’s high side
He played well for Milwaukee last year while receiving around 18 minutes a night. He’s a good backup/role player. Saying he’s a ten minute guy at most is wrong
Ever since he came back from China at the end of the 2014/2015 season, he has been a totally different person and player, to the point where i wouldn’t have minded him back in Miami in our final roster spot, as we could use a depth piece at his position…Good for him to get some guaranteed NBA money. The last 3 years say he deserves it, in my opinion. I also think he can be a good mentor, as he showed with Whiteside a few years ago, and be a great example of what can happen to young players that don’t do the things they need to do to stay in the league
We loved him in Milwaukee. We have plenty of forwards so didn’t need to keep him but knicks fans will love him
He will be a ok player with Knicks.
He’s changed since China, he must
Have been taught humility, and maybe
Some BB skills.
The only downside, is now he puts Soy Sauce on his Pizza!