For many NBA fans the name Michael Beasley can evoke a “whatever happened to him?” response. After all, hardly anyone was better than Beasley coming out of high school or his single record-smashing year at Kansas State. In the late 2000s, the 6’10” do-it-all forward who played his AAU ball with a guy named Kevin Durant was as sure a bet as Secretariat.
Beasley hasn’t had a Kevin Durant-like NBA career, true enough. Some disciplinary actions and an inability to find a long-term NBA home has forced Beasley to occasionally ply his trade in China instead of Miami or Memphis. But NBA teams looking to fill reserve spots absolutely can’t ignore Beasley in 2017, because the free agent has accumulated numbers that may surprise. Since 2013, Beasley has put up 19.6 points and grabbed 7.5 boards per 36 minutes, while shooting better than 50% from the floor. His last two seasons, in Houston and Milwaukee, those numbers are slightly higher. And he’s shown some joy too:
We are all Michael Beasley. #OwnTheFuture pic.twitter.com/IYFYraNeed
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 30, 2016
