Minnesota Sports Forum

Malik Beasley is 25.

Has he improved much in the past 5 years? He's a specialist whose value varies depending on how well he does exactly one thing on the basketball court.

Per 36, he seems to largely be the same player now as he was in Denver. I haven't seen any growth or expansion of his skills. Anybody else see something else?



[Note: From there, I guess it depends on fit whether that's worth another team wanting him and his contract.]

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Malik Beasley is 25.

Has he improved much in the past 5 years? He's a specialist whose value varies depending on how well he does exactly one thing on the basketball court.

Per 36, he seems to largely be the same player now as he was in Denver. I haven't seen any growth or expansion of his skills. Anybody else see something else?



[Note: From there, I guess it depends on fit whether that's worth another team wanting him and his contract.]

I won't pretend to be the biggest Malik Beasley fan because I'm far from it, but the one skill that Beasley actually has just happens to be the most sought after in the league. Since 2018, when he became a regular rotation player in the NBA, he's made 38.3-percent of his threes on 6.3 attempts per game. I probably don't need to explain how good that is in terms of volume and efficiency, but it's well above average. He's been a roller coaster of sorts this season, but if your specialty is arguably the most important element of the game today and you're that good at it, you're allowed to have holes in your game.

To your point, when Beasley's shot isn't falling, he really has no way to contribute to the team and arguably makes his team worse because the shots are still going up despite not hitting, among the other weaknesses he has. And there hasn't been much growth, if any, in his all-around game, but one could argue that as a three-point specialist his focus should be on maintaining/improving a high-level of shooting prowess. In that regard, he's been excellent outside of a handful of games this season. I wouldn't expect Joe Harris or Duncan Robinson to significantly improve their handle or three-level scoring ability so I won't expect that from Beasley either.

Camden wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Malik Beasley is 25.

Has he improved much in the past 5 years? He's a specialist whose value varies depending on how well he does exactly one thing on the basketball court.

Per 36, he seems to largely be the same player now as he was in Denver. I haven't seen any growth or expansion of his skills. Anybody else see something else?



[Note: From there, I guess it depends on fit whether that's worth another team wanting him and his contract.]

I won't pretend to be the biggest Malik Beasley fan because I'm far from it, but the one skill that Beasley actually has just happens to be the most sought after in the league. Since 2018, when he became a regular rotation player in the NBA, he's made 38.3-percent of his threes on 6.3 attempts per game. I probably don't need to explain how good that is in terms of volume and efficiency, but it's well above average. He's been a roller coaster of sorts this season, but if your specialty is arguably the most important element of the game today and you're that good at it, you're allowed to have holes in your game.

To your point, when Beasley's shot isn't falling, he really has no way to contribute to the team and arguably makes his team worse because the shots are still going up despite not hitting, among the other weaknesses he has. And there hasn't been much growth, if any, in his all-around game, but one could argue that as a three-point specialist his focus should be on maintaining/improving a high-level of shooting prowess. In that regard, he's been excellent outside of a handful of games this season. I wouldn't expect Joe Harris or Duncan Robinson to significantly improve their handle or three-level scoring ability so I won't expect that from Beasley either.

The one area he did improve at that showed from the time he was traded to us through last season was increased usage AND efficiency. And he didn't just shoot 3's. He had developed a pretty reliable runner in the lane that he could make off the bounce. He had become a legit 20+ PPG scoring threat at good efficiency and not just a floor spacing sniper. That's more valuable than, say, a 12-15PPG type scoring threat that's only a great 3-point shooter (think Davis Bertans).

This season, he has regressed to taking almost exclusively 3s and his scoring is at a career low efficiency level. Part of me wonders if he should put the ball on the deck more and look to score from the mid-range or kick it back out. I think he's been pressing too much with his outside shot.

Spurs, King, and Blazers all lost last night. Combined with our 3-game winning streak, we are starting to see some separation from the others fighting for the play-in spots. We'll need this buffer, as our schedule gets very tough again soon.

Kelan Martin was released by the Pacers today. He had a similar non-guaranteed contract as Nowell did (wolves guaranteed his).

Wolves have a 10 day hardship waiver because of Bolmaro having covid. I would not be surprised if he is back for a 10 day contract. Knowing the Iowa Wolves connection, one of Dlo best friends and he was playing 16 minutes a game on the Pacers

I didn't know where to put this but the Wolves have guaranteed Nowell contract the rest of the year.

They will have an interesting decision with him next year. They can decline his next year team option making him a RFA or accept the cheap team option for next year but he will be a unrestricted FA in 2023

kekgeek1 wrote:Kelan Martin was released by the Pacers today. He had a similar non-guaranteed contract as Nowell did (wolves guaranteed his).

Wolves have a 10 day hardship waiver because of Bolmaro having covid. I would not be surprised if he is back for a 10 day contract. Knowing the Iowa Wolves connection, one of Dlo best friends and he was playing 16 minutes a game on the Pacers

Maybe, but I don't think Kelan Martin is all that good so I'd like to see them go in another direction if they do sign someone on a hardship waiver. It should probably be another big considering the upcoming games on the schedule are against teams with more size in the frontcourt.

kekgeek1 wrote:I didn't know where to put this but the Wolves have guaranteed Nowell contract the rest of the year.

They will have an interesting decision with him next year. They can decline his next year team option making him a RFA or accept the cheap team option for next year but he will be a unrestricted FA in 2023

He's shown enough to be resigned. Hopefully for a similar contract to Vandys.

Jim Pete was saying that he can see Jay Now developing into a 6th MOTY candidate or even a starter. He's certainly proofing himself to be a legit scoring threat from all areas.

Now if Beasley can find his shot (and increase his trade value) we can look to move him this off season for ball handling guard like Derrick White as Cam has suggested. The Nowell can become the scoring threat off the bench.

kekgeek1 wrote:I didn't know where to put this but the Wolves have guaranteed Nowell contract the rest of the year.

They will have an interesting decision with him next year. They can decline his next year team option making him a RFA or accept the cheap team option for next year but he will be a unrestricted FA in 2023

The second part of your post can be applied to both Jaylen Nowell and Naz Reid. What I expect to happen is Minnesota's front office will discuss/negotiate contracts with them both after this season with the intent of locking them into multi-year deals. Obviously, if they can come to some sort of agreement, then they'll decline the team options and sign them to new deals as restricted free agents. That would be the ideal way to go as far as salary cap management, in my opinion, but it depends on what kind of contracts their representation thinks they can demand at the time and in the future.

If those discussions play out to where Nowell and/or Reid are asking for too much money, or simply want to bet on themselves and test the market as free agents, then we'll see team options picked up and the front office will revisit their deals at the end of next season. One other possibility is that those discussions this summer could lead to either/both of them getting traded before they become free agents.

Their situations are definitely worth keeping an eye on.

KiwiMatt wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:I didn't know where to put this but the Wolves have guaranteed Nowell contract the rest of the year.

They will have an interesting decision with him next year. They can decline his next year team option making him a RFA or accept the cheap team option for next year but he will be a unrestricted FA in 2023

He's shown enough to be resigned. Hopefully for a similar contract to Vandys.

Jim Pete was saying that he can see Jay Now developing into a 6th MOTY candidate or even a starterJim Pete was saying that he can see Jay Now developing into a 6th MOTY candidate or even a starter. He's certainly proofing himself to be a legit scoring threat from all areas.

Now if Beasley can find his shot (and increase his trade value) we can look to move him this off season for ball handling guard like Derrick White as Cam has suggested. The Nowell can become the scoring threat off the bench.

Not sure how well Nowell fits with the starters. It feels like he does best as a lead or secondary scoring guard and that won't happen if he's out there with KAT, DLO, and Edwards. We've seen how when he's a spot up floor spacer his 3-pt shot tends to be inconsistent. As a lead ball handler, he gets more opportunities to create things himself.