Malik Beasley cleared - who’s signing him?

[Apz]

Sports betting is cancer and should be banned worldwide.

Hmm, overheard some bews from india today. Didnt really pay attention but was some sort of betting ban

[OutsidetheNBA]

Curious what the process was that brought him under investigation in the first place. At this point, they made a false accusation of him and pretty directly cost him $35M in earnings. I think he's owed some transparency and clarity into the process that brought his name up in the first place for someone that he's now been cleared of.

If there's real reason to investigate someone then you have to do it. But my understanding is that he was investigated because of strange results around prop bets while he was on the Bucks. That's not exactly a concrete thing. Very open ended, and their investigation into it cost him $35M. Definitely sits kind of funny with me.

Do we know for sure if he was an actual Target of the investigation? Or was he a Subject of one? Because there is a difference. He might only have been a subject of one because it involved the unusual swing in prop bets on him that were otherwise being investigated. But if he was a target, which is the words his lawyer is using, that would typically mean there was some evidence linking him in some way -- even if it ultimately wasnt enough evidence to bring to a grand jury which is why he no longer is one.

In any event, they didnt make a false accusation because they didnt accuse him of anything. He was informed he was involved in an investigation, thats not an accusation. Now, those not involved might make assumptions and inferences off of that, but thats not the prosecutors fault. They did their jobs.

I'm also willing to go out on a limb here that at this time he (and his lawyers) do in fact know a bit more about how his name got involved in this.

Very possible that the investigation was focused on a gambling group that made a number of suspicious bets and the group made a couple of bets on Beasley or there was some evidence of communication with someone close to Beasley or the team. That's all it would take to make him a target of investigation in some USAO offices.

A lot of people hear "investigation into a player" and believe there must be evidence that he did something wrong. Absolutely not true. Professional betters develop sources on team staffs. Or some players' friends or family might know someone who knows someone and reach out to sell information. If Beasley (or Rozier or whoever else) tells his brother on a casual call that "I'm not feeling it today, but the team wants me to play. I'm going to feel it out and see how many minutes I can go" -- a perfectly normal, innocent convo -- and then the brother tells an idiot friend, and the idiot friend wants to make some money, then the player can get swept up in an investigation and lose tens of millions of dollars for 100% innocent conduct.

(To be clear, I'm not saying the posters I'm quoting were assuming Beasley did something wrong).

[gswhoops]

Sports betting is cancer and should be banned worldwide.

It was one thing when you had to go into a physical casino or sportsbook to place a bet, but now that you can do it anywhere anytime you have an internet connection or cell service, it's been like pouring rocket fuel on a fire.

IDK if banning it is the right answer but it feels like something's gotta change.

[the_process]

Sports betting is cancer and should be banned worldwide.

It was one thing when you had to go into a physical casino or sportsbook to place a bet, but now that you can do it anywhere anytime you have an internet connection or cell service, it's been like pouring rocket fuel on a fire.

IDK if banning it is the right answer but it feels like something's gotta change.

Eliminating prop bets is a really good start

[gswhoops]

Sports betting is cancer and should be banned worldwide.

It was one thing when you had to go into a physical casino or sportsbook to place a bet, but now that you can do it anywhere anytime you have an internet connection or cell service, it's been like pouring rocket fuel on a fire.

IDK if banning it is the right answer but it feels like something's gotta change.

Eliminating prop bets is a really good start

Not a coincidence that prop bets and parlays are sportsbooks' most profitable type of bet

[youngcrev]

Sports betting is cancer and should be banned worldwide.

It was one thing when you had to go into a physical casino or sportsbook to place a bet, but now that you can do it anywhere anytime you have an internet connection or cell service, it's been like pouring rocket fuel on a fire.

IDK if banning it is the right answer but it feels like something's gotta change.

Agreed that something's gotta change. There's just too much money involved for it to just go away. Feels like every game I watch or podcast I listen to is sponsored by booze and sports betting. It's kinda gross even though I'm not staunchly opposed to either of those things.

[Snakebites]

This ought to be a poll.

[Bentley1225]

He would likely get best opportunity in Milwaukee minutes wise. Maybe Nets sign him to a 1 year, $8-10 million deal to put more pressure on Cam Thomas. Can't see him going back to Detroit with LaVert and Ivey.

[Diop]

Curious what the process was that brought him under investigation in the first place. At this point, they made a false accusation of him and pretty directly cost him $35M in earnings. I think he's owed some transparency and clarity into the process that brought his name up in the first place for someone that he's now been cleared of.

If there's real reason to investigate someone then you have to do it. But my understanding is that he was investigated because of strange results around prop bets while he was on the Bucks. That's not exactly a concrete thing. Very open ended, and their investigation into it cost him $35M. Definitely sits kind of funny with me.

One of the prop bets on his rebounding had crazy movement one game. It was 2.5 boards and the under swang way strong right before the game. However, he came out and grabbed 6 boards. Apparently there were several other games around the same period with unusual betting activity on him. It sure looks like someone around him or the team may have been leaking info, but it wasn't him. (The unusual bets lost after all, so he clearly didn't fix the bet for them.) The investigation itself is not closed, but Beasley personally has been cleared.

So his play caused the bets to fail? What's the angle? That betting agents were getting him to beat the spread?

Weird.

His 3 point shooting was arguably league best last year, any team wanting to win should take a look. If he's happy to work, go to Miami for the 7 mill

[Nate the Great]

One constant of this off-season has been that shooting guards who don’t defend well are in low demand. I’d put Beasley in that category.

[Snakebites]

One constant of this off-season has been that shooting guards who don’t defend well are in low demand. I’d put Beasley in that category.

It's shooting guards who don't defend well who also aren't knock down shooters who aren't getting money.

Don't get me wrong- his defense will impact his pay day. But he brings something that, say, Malik Monk and Anfernee Simons don't.

[Chi town]

Curious what the process was that brought him under investigation in the first place. At this point, they made a false accusation of him and pretty directly cost him $35M in earnings. I think he's owed some transparency and clarity into the process that brought his name up in the first place for someone that he's now been cleared of.

If there's real reason to investigate someone then you have to do it. But my understanding is that he was investigated because of strange results around prop bets while he was on the Bucks. That's not exactly a concrete thing. Very open ended, and their investigation into it cost him $35M. Definitely sits kind of funny with me.

Fully agree. It’s crazy. Could happen to any player.

NBA should be backing him and making an expection for him.

Malik should be lawyering up and getting paid.

[babyjax13]

I would like to see him back on the Wolves.

[Mr Peanut]

I think a return to Detroit is the most likely outcome with being able to offer 7.2M and familiarity with the team. He will still get decent rotation minutes.

A left field team I could see being a threat though is Charlotte - Beasley could help to push them towards the play-in in a weak East. They also have the full MLE to spend with plenty of room below the tax.

[toooskies]

Cavs and Knicks have inquired, according to reporting. I can't imagine he'll want to sign a minimum if there's a bigger deal out there for him and I'm not sure the Cavs have a guaranteed role to make a minimum appealing for him even then.

[Canadafan]

Detroit

[Scoot McGroot]

https://defector.com/the-feds-unlike-shams-charania-have-not-cleared-malik-beasleys-gambling-case

“Beasley is no longer the target of the investigation, but he is still one of its subjects.

That detail comes courtesy of Front Office Sports' Alex Schiffer. The Detroit Free Press's Robert Snell and Coty Davis, who also had the scoop on the investigation months ago, spoke to Beasley's lawyer and got him to admit that he still has "no idea" whether Beasley will be charged with a crime.”

Yeah, I doubt we’re seeing Beasley in the nba this year.

[mademan]

Cavs and Knicks have inquired, according to reporting. I can't imagine he'll want to sign a minimum if there's a bigger deal out there for him and I'm not sure the Cavs have a guaranteed role to make a minimum appealing for him even then.

Do the Cavs have a guaranteed role? Is their back court not kind of loaded already with DG/Mitch/Merril/Lonzo/Strus? And Beas isnt clearly better than any of them. Knicks are still pretty thin and Beas can slot in as a 6th man for them competing only with Clarkson.

I dont see him taking the min, but if he was, he'd likely go to a team that can guarantee him a decent sized role. I cant imagine that would be Cleveland

[Texas Chuck]

https://defector.com/the-feds-unlike-shams-charania-have-not-cleared-malik-beasleys-gambling-case

“Beasley is no longer the target of the investigation, but he is still one of its subjects.

That detail comes courtesy of Front Office Sports' Alex Schiffer. The Detroit Free Press's Robert Snell and Coty Davis, who also had the scoop on the investigation months ago, spoke to Beasley's lawyer and got him to admit that he still has "no idea" whether Beasley will be charged with a crime.”

Yeah, I doubt we’re seeing Beasley in the nba this year.

yeah it was weird how people took a carefully crafted statement from his lawyer and ran it with as total vindication. Note: he might well not be guilty of anything and I believe in the presumption of innocence. But NBA teams aren't likely to rush to sign a good, but great player, still mixed up in this. Too little to gain. Detroit moving on so quickly tells us something too.

[gswhoops]

https://defector.com/the-feds-unlike-shams-charania-have-not-cleared-malik-beasleys-gambling-case

“Beasley is no longer the target of the investigation, but he is still one of its subjects.

That detail comes courtesy of Front Office Sports' Alex Schiffer. The Detroit Free Press's Robert Snell and Coty Davis, who also had the scoop on the investigation months ago, spoke to Beasley's lawyer and got him to admit that he still has "no idea" whether Beasley will be charged with a crime.”

Yeah, I doubt we’re seeing Beasley in the nba this year.

yeah it was weird how people took a carefully crafted statement from his lawyer and ran it with as total vindication. Note: he might well not be guilty of anything and I believe in the presumption of innocence. But NBA teams aren't likely to rush to sign a good, but great player, still mixed up in this. Too little to gain. Detroit moving on so quickly tells us something too.

For what it's worth, I think the Defector article is overcorrecting a bit in its attempt to dunk on Shams. "Subject" and "target" are terms of art in this context and mean specific things - if Beasley was a target, but is no longer a target and now just a subject, it would be unlikely (but certainly not impossible) that he ultimately gets charged with a crime.