Malik Beasley buried 224 3-pointers with the Bucks during the 2023-24 campaign.
While the Western Conference finals are underway in the NBA playoffs, the Golden State Warriors are already preparing for the offseason. After being eliminated from the play-in tournament, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Steve Kerr and the Warriors have questions to answer, starting with how they will handle free agency.
During the 2023-24 campaign, Beasley drilled 224 3-pointers with the Bucks, ranking 11th for made 3-pointers in the NBA. During his only season with the Bucks, the Florida State product average 11.3 points on 44.3% shooting from the floor to go along with 3.7 boards and 1.4 assists in 29.6 minutes per contest.
Beasley has played seven seasons in the NBA, with stops in Denver, Minnesota, Utah, Los Angeles and Milwaukee. The 27-year-old guard has averaged 38.5% from beyond the arc on 5.9 3-point attempts per game over his career.
Malik Beasley shot 41.3% on 3-pointers with the Bucks last season, and that makes him a potential free agency target for the Rockets, The Athletic reports.
Led by head coach Ime Udoka, the Houston Rockets clearly emphasized shooting more 3-pointers coming out of the All-Star break. In 28 games, Houston’s average total of 39.6 attempts per game ranked second to only Boston, which owns the league’s best record.
Yet, Houston ranked just No. 21 in 3-point accuracy (35.4%) over that same period. In March, that figure jumped to No. 9 (37.5%).
During that month, the combination of both 3-point volume and accuracy played a key role in Houston’s 13-2 record and an 11-game winning streak. Third-year guard Jalen Green came very close to earning Western Conference Player of the Month honors.
So, when the Rockets combined both 3-point volume and accuracy, the wins came in bunches. The question is whether they can sustain that formula over a longer period, and if additions from outside the organization could bolster that push.
The Rockets have already said they expect to operate above the NBA’s salary cap this offseason, but they will have their non-taxpayer mid-level exception (NT-MLE) to potentially use on free agents. That NT-MLE allows teams to offer a starting salary in the range of $13 million annually, even if they’re above the cap.
So, who could be a target? The Athletic’s Kelly Iko reports:
Houston has identified floor spacing and shooting as an area of need this offseason privately and publicly and have an interest in veteran sharpshooter Malik Beasley, league sources said. Beasley, who is also attracting early interest from Orlando and Golden State, spent the past season in Milwaukee, starting 77 games and shooting 41.3% from 3-point distance.
A 6-foot-4 guard, Beasley is a career 38.5% shooter from 3-point range. Milwaukee will likely want to keep the 27-year-old, but the Bucks have an expensive roster featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.
Thus, it’s plausible they could be outbid by a team such as Houston. As usual, free agency talks can officially begin on June 30.
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"Houston has identified floor spacing and shooting as an area of need this offseason privately and publicly and have an interest in veteran sharpshooter Malik Beasley, league sources said." #Rocketshttps://t.co/p1ehYMrBDg
Beasley cannot be the top perimeter defender for Milwaukee, no matter what Adrian Griffin said.
Malik Beasley was on the wrong end of a highlight during Milwaukee’s tough loss against the Pacers on Thursday.
After his first training camp and preseason with the organization, Beasley was given the fifth spot in the starting lineup for Milwaukee. He has appeared in the first unit in all eight of the games that he has played for the Bucks so far.
He is a valuable floor-spacer who has shot 37.9 percent on 3-pointers during his professional career. Beasley is also shooting well to start this campaign, connecting on 42.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
But he has left plenty of room for improvement with his defensive effort, which was unfortunately on display when Beasley defended Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton during important minutes down the stretch.
You can watch exactly what happened, but the results weren’t pretty. Haliburton created an absurd amount of separation off the dribble against Beasley, who seemingly gave up on the play immediately after.
The biggest question, though, is how he ended up in this situation.
Before the season began, Beasley spoke about a desire to make a leap on the defensive end of the floor (via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel):
“I came here to also help my defense,” Beasley said matter-of-factly. “They make an impact on defense. Especially with (assistant) coach (Patrick) Mutombo, that’s his specialty. I heard coach (Adrian) Griffin, that’s what he likes, too. I want this to be a great year not just for me individually, but overall as a team and building my value more than just a three-point shooter.”
Afterward, first-year head coach Adrian Griffin said that Beasley would take on the “toughest assignments” on defense for Milwaukee. This was a very surprising statement considering, per BBall-Index, Beasley had not typically taken on a high degree of matchup difficulty in the NBA.
Yet this season, he has already spent significant time guarding offensive standouts such as Haliburton as well as Trae Young, Tyrese Maxey, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson.
For as much value as he brings as a perimeter player on offense, he has never had the same level of impact on the defensive end of the floor.
It’s also emblematic of a bigger issue that has plagued the Bucks since the start of the season. Milwaukee has the NBA’s sixth-worst defensive rating so far in 2023-24.
One day before the start of free agency across the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers announced decisions on two players that could have significant salary cap implications.
In February, they acquired multiple players via trade. Two were center Mo Bamba and guard Malik Beasley. Both were expected to help the team with its 3-point shooting, which was arguably its biggest weakness.
However, Bamba barely played. Beasley shot poorly and eventually lost his spot in head coach Darvin Ham’s rotation during the playoffs.
The Lakers are waiving Bamba and declining next season’s team option on Beasley’s contract. However, at least one of them could stay with the team on a different contract.
The Lakers will waive Mo Bamba and not pick up the team option on Malik Beasley today, sources told ESPN. LAL plans to stay in contact with both players’ representatives throughout free agency and could find different deal structures for Bamba and/or Beasley’s return to LA
Instead of using the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft on a player with upside, the Lakers may trade it for someone who can help right now.
After lacking tradable assets going back to 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers have some chips they can use to reload and make one more run at an NBA championship while LeBron James is still around and playing at a high level.
They will have the No. 17 and No. 47 picks in June 22’s 2023 NBA draft, and the No. 17 pick should have some value on the open market.
In addition, Los Angeles has the expiring contracts of Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba to play with, as well as the possibility of using guard D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade.
According to Jovan Buha, the Lakers may end up flipping that No. 17 pick plus Beasley and Bamba for a player who is good enough to be in their starting lineup right away.
“There’s also the growing possibility that they can make a move at the 2023 draft, flipping their pick (No. 17), along with Bamba and/or Beasley for a starting-level upgrade.”
The team may not be that far from winning another Larry O’Brien Trophy, but, more likely than not, one upgrade in their starting lineup may be needed to bring home that trophy next June.
A final look at Malik Beasley’s performance this season for the Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers addressed many of their holes with their multiple trades prior to the trade deadline, or so it appeared.
The big trade was the one that sent out Russell Westbrook, little-used Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones plus draft capital for D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley. It was projected that both Russell and Beasley would greatly help with the Lakers’ major 3-point shooting woes.
It seemed like a reasonable expectation to many people, given the fact Beasley is a high-volume 3-point shooter who had made at least 37.7% of his attempts from downtown over the previous four seasons.
Despite his shooting struggles, Malik Beasley would like to stick around on the Lakers next season.
This summer, the Los Angeles Lakers will have to decide whether to keep guard D’Angelo Russell on a new contract or perhaps flip him for an upgrade such as Kyrie Irving.
In addition, they will have to find a way to retain Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura no matter how much it costs, a very high priority for them.
But another decision flying under the radar is whether L.A. will pick up the team option on guard Malik Beasley’s contract for next season.
He arrived in February’s Russell Westbrook trade and was expected by most to give the team a major upgrade in the 3-point shooting department. Instead, he struggled almost every night and ended up playing himself out of head coach Darvin Ham’s rotation.
Still, Beasley said he’s thankful he had the opportunity to be a part of the Lakers’ midseason turnaround.
“I just wanna control what I can control whether that’s here or anywhere else,” Beasley said during his exit interview. “Just have a great summer, work on the things I need to work on. From a standpoint view of the season I think I had a great opportunity to play for the Lakers. Turn the season around by going 18-8 after the All-Star break and then playing in the playoffs.
“I’m just very thankful to have that opportunity. Had some ups and downs, but at the end of the day we changed the culture. The three guys that came with me, Vando (Jarred Vanderbilt) and D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell), we changed the culture so that’s our main focus.”
Beasley also said he would like to remain with the team next season when asked about his exit interview with Ham and executive Rob Pelinka.
“I don’t wanna speak on it too much because you never know what can happen,” Beasley said. “But obviously, with the culture that we brought here when we came here he loves that and he wants to maintain that so hopefully we can make something happen where I come back. But like I said, I can only control what I can control so I either way, I’m gonna make sure I stay ready.”
The guard shot 35.3% from 3-point range in 26 regular-season games with the Lakers, but that stat is misleading. He shot poorly from that distance much more often than not, and he simply wasn’t able to consistently hit when he was open.
Given those struggles, it’s hard to imagine him sticking around much longer. Perhaps the team will pick up his option, but unless he turns things around this fall, it may see him as useful only in the sense of salary ballast in a potential trade.
Some Lakers fans feel Malik Beasley should be replaced in the team’s rotation by Lonnie Walker IV.
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to open up the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday evening, and it should be an exciting and competitive series.
Unlike the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies, which was a grind-it-out affair at times, this series should have plenty of offense, and it should be a high-scoring one.
The Lakers had trouble consistently hitting 3-pointers against Memphis, and they will need to have better marksmanship from deep in order to knock off the defending NBA champs.
One obstacle is apparently Malik Beasley, who hasn’t quite measured up so far in his tenure with the team. Since arriving in the Russell Westbrook trade in February, he has shot 35.3% from 3-point range in the regular season and a chilly 26.3% from that distance in six playoff games.
Beasley has seen his playing time significantly reduced lately, and some fans have been calling for him to be taken out of the rotation.
It is unlikely that head coach Darvin Ham will do so, but if it were to happen, he should consider reinserting Lonnie Walker IV into his rotation.
Magic Johnson gave his keys to his Lakers defeating the Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies will be one of the more intriguing series the NBA will have to offer as the playoffs begin this weekend.
Memphis is considered a slight favorite, but many believe the Lakers have at least a real shot of knocking off Ja Morant and crew and advancing to the Western Conference semifinals for only the second time in the last 11 seasons.
Against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Tuesday’s play-in tournament game, the Lakers received very little production from players not named LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder.
In the eyes of team legend Magic Johnson, such players have to step up and play up to their potential, and he said he would also like guard Lonnie Walker IV to get some playing time.
If the @Lakers are going to beat the Memphis Grizzlier they have to control the pace and the role players like Reaves, Schröder, D Lo, Beasley, Hachimura, and Troy Brown Jr. have to play great to help AD and LeBron. I’d also like to see Lonnie Walker play in the Memphis series.
On Tuesday, D’Angelo Russell shot 1-of-9 (although he did have eight assists against one turnover), Austin Reaves went 4-of-13 and Troy Brown Jr missed all but one of his five shot attempts.
Rui Hachimura was just 3-of-8, but he hit a couple of key shots to help the Lakers’ cause, and although Malik Beasley was efficient, he got up just three shots in 14 minutes.
Walker has fallen out of head coach Darvin Ham’s rotation since the trade deadline, but he has gained spot duty on occasion, and he is still a threat to hit from the outside.
Game 1 against the Grizzlies is set to tip off at noon Pacific time on Sunday.
When the Lakers play the Timberwolves on Tuesday, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt will face their former teammates.
It is axiomatic in the NBA that when a player goes up against his former team, especially in postseason play, he is more motivated than usual and tends to have a very good game.
Of course, some players, when faced with that situation, see it as just another game — or at least that’s what they will say publicly.
When the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-in tournament on Tuesday, three of their players will be facing their former team: D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. All arrived in February’s blockbuster Russell Westbrook trade.
Each seems to be adopting a slightly different attitude about the upcoming contest.
