On June 26, 2008, Michael Beasley was taken with the second overall pick by the Miami Heat, who had finished that year with a putrid 15-67 record.
Despite putting up starter-worthy numbers, Beasley has never quite met the expectations that many had for him coming out of Kansas State, where he earned 26 double-doubles in his Freshman year.
Beasley only wound up playing two years in Miami. There’s a great chance he would have remained with the Heat, had they not signed both Chris Both and LeBron James to huge contracts.
After signing James and Bosh, the Heat traded Beasley in exchange for second-round picks in 2011 and 2014. It was believed that Beasley was traded, purely to rid Miami of his contract.
Beasley— like Miami, only spent two years with Minnesota. While he was tremendous in his first season, averaging 19.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists, Beasley’s numbers dropped in his second year.
Beasley posted career lows in nearly every category during the 2011-2012 season. He saw time as both a starter and a sixth-man, averaging 11.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and only 1 assist.
While the potential is still there, Minnesota elected not to extend a qualifying offer to Beasley, making him an unrestricted free agent. He would’ve been paid $8.2 million in 2012, had the Timberwolves elected to extend the offer.
With Derrick Williams on the team, and with the recent acquisition of Chase Budinger, Beasley would’ve been fighting for minutes at either forward position.
As a Timberwolves fan, I will miss Beasley, mainly because he was very generous to fans, and constantly donated his time to charities for sick or under-privileged children.
On July 4, the Phoenix Suns came to terms with Beasley on a three-year, $18 million contract. While some view the money to be too steep, Beasley will be more than capable of putting up great numbers, if given the proper minutes.
When he receives consistent minutes, Beasley is able to roll on a game-by-game basis. However, he’s been constantly under-utilized in his career, and it clearly takes its toll on him.
Earlier on July 4, Grant Hill announced that he would be joining Steve Nash in Los Angeles or he would simply retire. With the Suns likely already aware of Hill’s intentions to move on, they were confident that a deal with Beasley would be completed.
Michael Beasley will very likely be stepping into a starting role with Phoenix, and it would be a complete shocker if that wasn’t so. Jared Dudley seems to be a fine option at shooting guard, due to his ability to knock down long-range shots.
With Beasley yet to turn 24 (he turns 24 on January 9), he still has plenty of time to achieve the potential people once saw in him. Also, with Phoenix’s fast-paced tempo, Beasley should be able to find himself with plenty of wide-open dunks.
Truth be told, Phoenix is the perfect fit for a player like Michael Beasley. The Suns are trying to get younger, quicker and better, which is the exact reason they’re paying Beasley $6 million per season, for the next three years.
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