Why did Michael Beasley bust in the NBA?

[HotelVitale]

Gonna be controversial and say no team gave him the chance and support to be the face of a franchise. He was trying to be side kick to wade with a short leash before being traded. Do i believe this? Not really, but offering an alternative.

Except he was on the Wolves after that and got to chuck up as many shots as he wanted to, after which everyone was like 'oh, this is who he is. Pretty boring.'

[Sign5]

As good as spo is now he was extremely infuriating with how he handled Beasley in those 2 years. Heat fans can deny it but I watched his whole tenure with the heat and Spo completely neutered the dude.

Heat being a hard nosed defensive minded squad was what beas couldn't handle. However, spo went a lil overboard with it as he was an unexperienced rookie coach himself. I remember it vividly Beasley would routinely score like 8-10 straight with EASE then get subbed out for Haslem after simply one blown defensive rotation. He was indeed putrid defender but the dude was a scoring machine. I honestly feel if Spo would have reduced the leash on Beasley he'd at least have more value for heat to trade him for.

Funny enough he went on to average 23ppg with Minnesota the very next season. As I alluded to earlier he made scoring look as easy as Durant did/does but was just a turnstile on defense. Even then Miami had several scoring droughts with the offense solely relying on Wade to bail the team out. Therefore, he could have easily used Beasley more. Yet he would stick with a far less offensively equipped Haslem( who's main points were open mid range shots created by Wade and put backs).

Still baffling to me because once again they could have just showcased his offensive talents, allow him to score 20+(which he would have easily done if given consistent minutes) and his value would have been more than 2 mere 2nds/salary dump.

That poor decision pretty much cost them valuable depth that they could have used to fill out the '11 roster which was trash outside the big 3, haslem and often gimpy Mike Miller.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

Super Cool Beas

[HotelVitale]

Beasley was so dominant in college. Kevin Durant came in as a freshmen and destroyed the Big 12. Beasley comes in a year later and plays even better. He averaged more points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and FG% than Durant. Beasley was 6-9, 235 lbs compared to Durant's 6-9, 215 lbs. He was more athletic and stronger than KD. Why couldn't Beasley translate that into the NBA?

Also note that Beasley wasn't actually 6'9--he was 6'7 with no shoes so should've been listed at 6'8 back then. IIRC KD is about 6'9-6'10 without shoes.

[MetalFingaz]

Watch on YouTube

Thanks for sharing this. I never knew they came up together and interesting to hear them both talk about their experiences in basketball, especially KD talking about his situation in Seattle vs. Mike's in Miami.

[RapsFan2000]

lazy & loves smoking weed 24/7

[MrBigShot]

A few years ago he put up 21/9/3 on 56 TS% per 36 with the Knicks. Yeah he wasn't super quick or super tall, but he did have good touch and was really skilled as a scorer. I feel like his career being a disappointment had more to do with his lack of mental focus, desire and work ethic than his talent. A guy as talented as Beasley was coming into the league should've at least made 2 or 3 all star games.

[HomoSapien]

People forget that Pat Riley didn't want to draft him. He desperately wanted Derrick Rose and when he was off the table he felt like he had no choice but to take Beasley. I think the relationship started off strained and Beasley's work-ethic didn't necessarily jive with what Riley expected. Beasley obviously could play and score on the NBA level, but I think his reputation was damaged from the start and it scared too many teams off from ever trying to develop him as a building block.

[316Hornets]

Because he didn't go to UNC-Charlotte for college like he said he was going to. All downhill from there.

[Foye]

Tweener.
Not good enough as SF and not big enough as PF.

He just didn't have the passing, playmaking, mobility, defense and shooting skills to be a top SF.
And he didn't have the size to be a PF. Other PFs could just shoot over him on D and he had a hard time against bigger PFs on O.

He would've been dominant at the PF position if only he was 6-11.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Funny enough he went on to average 23ppg with Minnesota the very next season.

This is not accurate.

Beasley averaged a career high 19.2 ppg for the 17 - 65 Timberwolves. The Wolves were so impressed by these hollow numbers... Beasley was a bench player the next season.

That summer, he signed a 3-year deal in Phoenix. It was largely panned at the time.

The Suns released him only 14 months later.




[Note: We can all try to scour through the basketball reasons why Beasley didn't justify being the #2 pick. And many are valid. But I don't know if that's really the story here. Beasley was still considered "good enough" for the Wolves to trade for him. And for the Suns to sign him to a decent deal after that. I think there are more than a few behind-the-scenes stories with Beasley out there that would reveal a lot more about his failure to meet expectations than anything else.]

[LastNameEver]

If he played defense hed still be in the league right now. Probably a 2 time all star

[BlazersBroncos]

A guy who forgets which knee is his wont succeed in many ventures.

[Jack Dempsey]

Beasley was so dominant in college. Kevin Durant came in as a freshmen and destroyed the Big 12. Beasley comes in a year later and plays even better. He averaged more points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and FG% than Durant. Beasley was 6-9, 235 lbs compared to Durant's 6-9, 215 lbs. He was more athletic and stronger than KD. Why couldn't Beasley translate that into the NBA?

Well your proposition is wrong in terms of comparing their size. Beasly measured at 6'7 with a 7'0 wingspan at the combine, whereas Durant measured 6'9 with a 7'6 wingspan. Huge difference in size for an NBA 4.

Exactly.

He was stuck between two positions at that time. He wasn't strong enough to guard PFs and he wasn't quick enough to guard SFs. Back in the day there was a huge difference between SF and PF. As somebody said, a player like him would have a much easier path in today's league. Also, I'm not that sure Beasley was more athlatic than KD.

[Lockdown504090]

didnt work on his body well enough and didnt develop skills outside of the things he liked doing. boxing out, shooting threees, defending multiple positions, developing his strength and athleticism. if he did those things, he would have been a star regardless of his attiude and IQ

[Axl Rose]

As others have said he was a tweener. He was a PF in a SF body.

[snaquille oatmeal]

Watch on YouTube

[tr0far1]

Because he didn't go to UNC-Charlotte for college like he said he was going to. All downhill from there.

The 49ers should've ponied up to keep Dalonte Hill on staff.

[dirkforpres]

Him and Thabeet are definitely my 2 biggest misses. I thought both would be stars.

But yeah, he just didn’t care enough. No excuses for him getting drafted so high and to Miami of all places, but not even sniffing all star status

[DirtyDez]

People forget that Pat Riley didn't want to draft him. He desperately wanted Derrick Rose and when he was off the table he felt like he had no choice but to take Beasley. I think the relationship started off strained and Beasley's work-ethic didn't necessarily jive with what Riley expected. Beasley obviously could play and score on the NBA level, but I think his reputation was damaged from the start and it scared too many teams off from ever trying to develop him as a building block.

Rose/Wade would’ve been interesting. Wade/Love would’ve been the best fit.