At this point, Michael Beasley is like the NBA’s annoying neighbor who just won’t go away.
According to a report by Marc Stein of ESPN on Tuesday, Beasley, who is currently playing for the Shandong Golden Stars of the Chinese Basketball Association, is drawing interest from several NBA teams now that the CBA season is over.
A clutch of NBA teams, I'm told, are tracking Michael Beasley as he nears a return from China. Last seen in the… https://t.co/CcyR1hnVnn
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 23, 2016
Still just 27 years old, Beasley last played for the Heat (his third separate stint with the team) in the 2014-15 campaign. Though a standout in his lone college basketball season with the Kansas State Wildcats, Beasley’s NBA career has been nothing short of a farce. Drafted No. 2 overall in 2008 over the likes of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, he never got going in the Association thanks in large part to attitude issues and numerous troubles with the law.
Beasley seemed to have found his niche in China, however, winning MVP of this year’s CBA All-Star Game and averaging 31.9 points per game, 13.2 rebounds per game, and 3.8 assists per game on the season as a whole. Stein’s report also mentions that Beasley has reinvented himself into a 40-plus percent shooter from three-point range.
While the CBA is known for yielding flashy popcorn stats that should be taken with a large grain of salt, Beasley is proving that he can still ball and may have just earned another shot in the NBA with his strong showing overseas.
After all, it wouldn’t be February 10-day contract season without somebody taking a flier on Michael Beasley. It’s a sacred NBA tradition.
Image Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
