With seemingly nowhere to go for now in the NBA scene, Michael Beasley finds himself headed to China for a second tour of duty.
Beasley will instead play for the Shandong Golden Stars in the Chinese Basketball Association after being waived by the Miami Heat. The former second pick of the 2008 NBA Draft became dispensable with the Heat filled with plenty of players in the forward line.
In 2014-15, Beasley had a stint with the Shanghai Sharks and put up some monster numbers. Unfortunately, those numbers failed to help the Sharks advance, eventually bowing out with a woeful 17–21 record that was good for just 12th place.
With no takers, it remains to be seen if Beasley would be making an NBA return soon. He had made two returns to the Miami Heat, but it seems that on both occasions, the team did not see any improvement on his score-first attitude.
Such is seen as a reason why Beasley has failed to survive in the NBA, failing to show more than just feasting his eyes on the basket.
With the Sharks, Beasley did put up some eye-popping numbers. He averaged 28.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.9 steals; but the more important task of leading a team to the latter stages somehow put a damper on those impressive stats.
In the NBA, Beasley has failed to hit his stride. Aside from the Heat, Beasley also had stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns. He had all the chances to prove his worth, but it seems that Beasley has to realize that there is more to basketball than trying to shoot the ball in the cylinder.
It seems that unless Beasley tries to develop other facets of his game, it is unlikely he will be returning for another tour of duty in the NBA soon.
Always rooted for Michael Beasley to figure it out. But he's not a core piece on a contender. He's a maybe-we-get-lucky-for-a-few-games guy.
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 28, 2015
