Coming out of Kansas State, Michael Beasley was a prized commodity and was drafted with the second pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Miami Heat.
But he never really caught on with one team and for as good as he was as a player, he had some issues off the court including a drug possession charge and he was investigated for a sexual assault. He bounced around from team to team and ultimately ended up going overseas.
He did catch on last year with the Milwaukee Bucks though and played 56 games with the team averaging 9.4 points per game. All signs pointed towards him being a good teammate and then made teams very interested in him in last year's free agent period.
He ended up signing a contract with the New York Knicks in the off-season for a little more than two million dollars. He has made the most of the opportunity, especially with the injury to Kristaps Porziņģis.
He has played in 55 games for the Knicks so far this year putting up 12.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He is a team-first player and seems to be enjoying his time on the court again. He will be an unrestricted free agent after this year, and he will probably have a market again this summer.
He talked to Chris Haynes of ESPN about what he wants to come from this free agency period this summer.
“Like I want the opportunity. I want someone, a coach, an organization to believe in me to the point where I can win games. … ‘Cause my thing is I don't want to just score, I want to make players better. And I didn't even know that about myself until I went to China the first time.”
“It became fun to see my teammates' reaction to things that they didn't even think that they could do. You know? And to me, that's like the fun of it. When we all playing the right way, when we all making the right pass.”
He has come a long way from his days where he was a problem teammate, and maybe if he keeps up his good play, he will get that opportunity this summer.
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