New York Knicks forward Michael Beasley finds himself in a unique position to help the team through the absence of star player Kristaps Porzingis, who is likely down for the season with a torn ACL.
The veteran forward showed his potential when given minutes on Thursday, finishing with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and a perfect 7-of-7 from the stripe along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Beasley will be a free agent, and the Knicks have their eyes on re-signing him if they can, but he's also playing for his own future and showing what he can do for a team that could find a role for him.
Despite his upgraded role as a starter for what's likely to be the rest of the NBA season, Beasley's focus is right on the task at hand.
“That’s not really my mindset,” Beasley said of the new opportunity, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. “I still haven’t really wrapped my head around KP, man. But it’s an opportunity for everybody to show that we can band together, to show that we can hold the fort down, show that we can be better.”
The Knicks are hard from salvageable at this point of the season — mired in five straight losses, as part of losing eight of their last 10 games and sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference, 5.5 games away from the eighth seed.
But for Beasley, the more he can do to keep this team relevant, it would ultimately help his stock. The 29-year-old is averaging 12.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game this season.
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