Where do you Rank Beasley?

[shrink]

Beasley is now 14th in the NBA in scoring (Love is 20th), and I recently had the opportunity to compare his stats to Granger.

Granger: 37.1 MPG, FG 42.0%, FT 85.8%, 3P 37.6%, 5.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 21.6 PPG
Beasley: 34.5 MPG, FG 47.1%, FT 73.4%, 3P 42.2%, 6.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 21.9 PPG

I understand Beasley has a lot of work to do on the defensive side, but he certainly has the athleticism to fight through screens and be a decent defensive player. He's certainly not in the LeBron/Durant level, but where would you put him?

[Foye]

I don't know. He's got insanely effective shooting percentages. What he needs to do to become a great player is draw more fouls, improve his passing and most importantly improve his defense.

His numbers might be a bit inflated by our run and gun offense. I won't rank him anywhere right now but if he steps up his D. he's capable of becoming a better player than Granger.

[Wingman]

Once he gets calls he's a more effiecient Melo. I think he's pretty good at drawing fouls, he just doesn't get any respect. It will come with victories. And I still think he's the best player on our team.

[Dewey]

I think he'll be a legit #2 option once he matures ... I think his maturity will lead to better defense, and generally, a more complete offensive player. Considering there are roughly 150 players in the NBA labeled as starters ... I'd rank him in the top 75-100 now, and expect he could easily make the top 50 by seasons end.

I'm definetly not sold that he has the game to be a #1 option on a contender, but would be happy to be proven wrong.

[jpatrick]

Because of his flaws (defense) and because his game is a little to one dimensional, I don't think he's quite at the Granger level of player yet (so not quite a fringe all star). Would I trade him for Granger? Hell no. He's 21, has great upside and has shown glimpses of becoming a better all around player, i.e. rebounding , passing, little better D (see N.O. game last night).

Like Dewey said, I think his upside right now is a top 20 player in the league which would make him a #1 on a mediocre team and a #2 on a championship team, but I'd love to be proven wrong and have him become an elite player.

[Esohny]

If he keeps driving to the hoop and starts getting to the line more often, I think he could be at least Paul Pierce level (on offense) on a great team, even though his handle isn't as good as Pierce. I don't know if I ever see him being elite on defense, but I think he can certainly get to solid-above average as he gets more experience.

I'm really interested to see how Beasley plays with a really good distributor at PG in Rubio.

[abrewbro68]

He's already better than a Grainger. He has a very unique set of talents with size that only a handful of other players in the NBA have. His 36per numbers are insane for a player his age. He's already shown me he is an above average defender, so something has to give in terms of the teams defensive philosophy.

To me he's already teetering on cracking the top 30 players in the league label. He will probably lead the league in scoring a couple of times in his career. He has zero maturity issues when it comes to basketball. He's the first to arrive and the last to leave at every practice and he's hungry to get better.

There really just isn't that much talent around him. Kevin Love is a good player, but sadly he's probably already reached his max output/potential. Darko...well I am at a loss of words for him. The rest of the team is average to below average in terms of talent.

[slinky]

I think you got lost and meantt to go here...http://www.michaelbeasley.com/ You sound like his agent, mom, or stalker...

Beasley is young and he can still develop. Until I see more I don't see any reason why he can't be a top20-30 in this league. I still want to see the consistency before saying he is there yet as some have recently alluded too ( )

He is not a good defender now, he may be bordering on average, but i would like to see more effort. There is zero reason for him to be getting torched by 4's like Jamison. Some point to his defensive stop at the end of the game, I ask why can't he do that most of the rest of the game. I think those things come with experience. And so I think he can become an average to above average defender(especially against bigger 3's and stretch 4's).

I have been pleasantly surprised with his attitude. I can not speak to his being the first to arrive and last to leave comment. I have heard the wolves mention that as well about Wayne Ellington and Lazar Hayward too...so there must be some very late night games of Lightning going on between the 3 of them.

The talent level around Beasley is not an issue. Darko is one of the best centers that Beasley has ever played with. Kevin Love is the best PF he has ever played with. Luke Ridnour might be the best PG(depending on what you consider Wade a couple of years ago). This isn't Kevin Garnett being 30 years old, and playing with Marko Jaric.

[Devilzsidewalk]

6th

[abrewbro68]

:D I think you got lost and meantt to go here...http://www.michaelbeasley.com/ You sound like his agent, mom, or stalker...

Beasley is young and he can still develop. Until I see more I don't see any reason why he can't be a top20-30 in this league. I still want to see the consistency before saying he is there yet as some have recently alluded too ( )

He is not a good defender now, he may be bordering on average, but i would like to see more effort. There is zero reason for him to be getting torched by 4's like Jamison. Some point to his defensive stop at the end of the game, I ask why can't he do that most of the rest of the game. I think those things come with experience. And so I think he can become an average to above average defender(especially against bigger 3's and stretch 4's).

I have been pleasantly surprised with his attitude. I can not speak to his being the first to arrive and last to leave comment. I have heard the wolves mention that as well about Wayne Ellington and Lazar Hayward too...so there must be some very late night games of Lightning going on between the 3 of them.

The talent level around Beasley is not an issue. Darko is one of the best centers that Beasley has ever played with. Kevin Love is the best PF he has ever played with. Luke Ridnour might be the best PG(depending on what you consider Wade a couple of years ago). This isn't Kevin Garnett being 30 years old, and playing with Marko Jaric.

LOL, not an agent, just a fan of his talent.

It's really not much of a stretch to say Darko is one of the best centers he has played with considering the two previous years Joel Anthony was one of his other starting centers. Darko isn't as good as JO, so sure, 2nd out of 3. And yes Love is the best PF Beasley has ever played with considering Mike was a PF the past two season. Although I will give a major edge to Haslem over Love defensively. PG, toss up I think. Arroyo was 2nd in the NBA last year in Assist to Turnover ratio.

The kid's 36 per numbers have been projecting this kind of production for years if only Spolestra was willing to give him a chance. Beasley is 14th in scoring, with only 5 of those 13 ahead having the same or better FG %'s. He's tied for 4th amongst all SF's in rebounds per game. His assist numbers are poor and need dramatic improvement. His defense has been bad in Minnesota, but so has the whole team. I bring up again, he was the starting PF on the 2nd best team in the NBA last year in regards to points allowed. And that was with Carlos Arroyo and Qrich as fellow starters. He didn't lose talent defensively when he was average to above average the year before. Minnesota's coaches coach a piss poor scheme of defense and it needs to change.

I just don't see how its a reach to say the kids is about to crack top 30. Who are players 25-35 that are ahead of Mike at this point in THIS season?

[younggunsmn]

He's exceeded all expectations so far. If he can play consistently the way he did last night, he will be a top 10 player even when his jumper isn't falling at such a ridiculous rate. If he can keep his 3 pt % near 40 he is going to be near impossible to guard at the SF. He is simply too big and strong for 90% of the SF's in the league. His defense at the 3 has been steadily improving the last couple weeks. Hopefully when Tolliver gets back Rambis will keep him at the 3 and not the 4. I think it's important he gets comfortable at the 3 and Love at the 4, and we build the team around that.

He's learning what teams are trying to do to him. As he learns more he will be more effective. The upside when we traded him was supposed to be "Poor man's Carmelo". If he keeps improving he could be Carmelo or better. Love and Beasley are untradeable at this point.

[Devilzsidewalk]

crazy thing is how good his shooting %'s are overall, pretty remarkable especially when considering how many contested shots he takes. Defense has to step up, but he does make some nice highlight plays.
Definitely not a good idea to challenge him around the rim when you don't have the angle, he's been eating guys up all year when they go at him straight up.

[southern wolf]

After reading this I took another look at his stats page and he's actually ranked 4th in the nba in field goals made, and 3rd in field goals per 48 minutes. IF he could get a few more calls and lift his ft percentage back up to where it was last season, look out. But considering how many calls we get in general, that's a big if.

If he continues to improve his defense and passing and stays consistent he'll be an all-star calibre player in no time. He's already close. It's been said a lot this season, but he's only twenty freakin' one. I'm excited about what he could become.

[Grits n Gravy]

once beas's offensive awareness(knowing when to drive, seeing how the defense is playing, reading seams) he will be a carmelo anthony or better(as you mentioned younggun)type of player. he literally scores to easy, everything is so smooth and easy for him offensively. he truly has no ceiling, he can be as good as he wants to be, he has all the tools and is only 21, crazy. in the rest of the year and coming seasons i'd like to see him add a post game, improve his passing(last game was easily his best pro game imo) and improve his defense.he needs to keep being aggressive getting to the cup and use his jumper to set up his driving game.for a second round pick LOL!!!

[dookieguy]

He's been too inconsistent so far, but I definitely like what I'm seeing.

His FG% is amazing considering the FGA. If he gets to the line more consistently and plays better defense, I think he can be a top 25-ish player.

I think a great comparison is Carmelo Anthony, both in that their primary role in the game is to score. They also both possess great driving and jumpshooting skills, as well as being of similar height and build.

Melo's third year per36:

26.0/4.8/2.6 on 48.1% FG, 24.3% 3pt, and 8.7 FTA

Beasley's third year per36:

22.8/6.5/1.9 on 47.1% FG, 42.2% 3pt, and 5.0 FTA

Basically, Beasley's only lacking in FTA when compared to Melo's scoring. If he can improve his FT% and his FTA by about 3 more attempts per game, he would be scarily similar to Melo's stats in his 3rd year, with slight differences in rebounds and assists, while trumping him in 3pt shooting.

[C.lupus]

crazy thing is how good his shooting %'s are overall, pretty remarkable especially when considering how many contested shots he takes. Defense has to step up, but he does make some nice highlight plays.

What's intersting about it (to me) is he is very streaky within games. He'll go 1 for 10 then hit 8 in a row.

After reading this I took another look at his stats page and he's actually ranked 4th in the nba in field goals made, and 3rd in field goals per 48 minutes. IF he could get a few more calls and lift his ft percentage back up to where it was last season, look out. But considering how many calls we get in general, that's a big if.

If he attacks the basket a bit more consistently, he should get more calls. He won't get a lot of calls shooting jumpers unless he learns Love's little lean-into-the-defender-and-throw-up-a-prayer trick.

[slinky]

I just don't see how its a reach to say the kids is about to crack top 30. Who are players 25-35 that are ahead of Mike at this point in THIS season?

We both agree that he is either there or getting close provided he continues as he has been. I just want to see it over more games than 30. You had the pleasure of seeing him in Miami, before this year i haven't seen him consistently since KState.

You do raise a couple poor arguments though in defense of his defense. I do see he has the potential and skills to be a good defensive player. But to me its his effort that needs to be consistent. He can look terrible for 50 possessions and great on 20 possessions. With experience he has the ability to change that around, but he isn't there yet.

In Miami, he was playng PF, guarding the post...now he is defending on the wing. Its apples and oranges. Until this year, Beasley has rarely had to defend in space, or chase and fight through multiple screens. Thats why I say as he gains experience he will get better.

The team sucking on defense can not be used as an excuse for Beasley. Throughout the first 25 games, Beasley was getting caught flat-footed with his hands down on many possesions. This is independent of the fact that our PG and PF can not keep anyone away from the basket.

All told, we agree on the basic premise. Beasley is very good right now. He has the potential to be great.

[shrink]

I was thrilled to see that at the end of the last game, he WAS a #1 option. LeBron, Melo .. nobody could have done an easier job of scoring. That is exactly what the team needs, and if Beasley can become that player consistently, the Wolves will become a very difficult team to beat.

[Klomp]

Its so hard to remember that he's only 21 (for a couple more weeks).

[revprodeji]

Because of his flaws (defense) and because his game is a little to one dimensional, I don't think he's quite at the Granger level of player yet (so not quite a fringe all star). Would I trade him for Granger? Hell no. He's 21, has great upside and has shown glimpses of becoming a better all around player, i.e. rebounding , passing, little better D (see N.O. game last night).

Like Dewey said, I think his upside right now is a top 20 player in the league which would make him a #1 on a mediocre team and a #2 on a championship team, but I'd love to be proven wrong and have him become an elite player.

His man defense is average, where he gets in trouble is his help defense and responding to rotations. Ironically it seems to be that he helps to soon and does not get back in time. Most young players it is the opposite. I think this can be improved.

One dimensional? Sweet jumper--post up--drive...How is that one dimensional?

His rebounding should be better, but Love is bound to take away some of those rebounds. He has a 9.8 reb-r but Lebron only has a 10.5, Deng has a 6.5, Granger has an 8, Mello has a 13. So Beasley could improve his rebounding, but it is hardly a weakness.

His passing is what I would like to see changed. I also understand his logic of waiting for the help defender to move, but I think he would be more effective if he just got the ball made his move and attacked.