Malik Beasley Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Seattle, Cavs, Whiteside, Draft

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Seattle City Council dealt a major blow to hopes that the city will be the home of an NBA team any time soon, voting 5-4 against a measure that would have given developer Chris Hansen control of an alley on the spot where he’s seeking to build an arena, reports Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The chances of a revival for the SuperSonics within the near future have seemed remote anyway, though we invited your discussion on the idea of expansion in Monday’s Community Shootaround. See more from around the NBA:

Trade acquisition Channing Frye has given the Cavaliers a “breath of fresh air,” GM David Griffin told Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal amid an interview last week in which he disputes the idea of chemistry problems in the locker room. Frye has seen sharply limited playing time in the postseason but had his best game of the playoffs Monday, scoring eight points in nine minutes of action. “He’s been a huge, huge plus,” Griffin said. “We needed someone who was truly joyful to be part of the process to remind everybody how blessed we are to be together.”
Griffin also lauded soon-to-be free agent James Jones for his leadership, calling him a special player, Ridenour notes.
Hassan Whiteside doesn’t harbor ill feelings toward the Raptors for declining to bring him to training camp after he played for Toronto’s summer league team in 2014, believing the July stint, which was his first brush with the NBA in two years, led to other opportunities that helped revive his career months later, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The Heat center is No. 10 in our latest 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings.
Draft prospects Brice Johnson, Malik Beasley, A.J. Hammons, Fred VanVleet, Kaleb Tarczewski and Rasheed Sulaimon have all signed with Andy Miller’s ASM Sports agency, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link).
Spanish small forward Santiago Yusta is officially eligible for this year’s draft despite his absence from the list of early entrants the NBA sent out last week, the league announced. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress pegs the 6’7″ 18-year-old as the 32nd-best overseas prospect among those born in 1997.

Malik Beasley To Enter Draft

March 30th, 2016 at 7:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 30th, 7:52pm: Beasley has hired ASM Sports to represent him, which would eliminate the opportunity for him to return to Florida State, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.

MARCH 21st, 8:15pm: Florida State has announced that freshman Malik Beasley will enter the NBA draft, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Goodman doesn’t believe Beasley is simply taking advantage of new regulations that allow players to work out for NBA teams without losing their eligibility, suggesting his ultimate decision may match up with that of fellow FSU freshman Dwayne Bacon Jr. (Twitter link).

A 6’4″ shooting guard, Beasley averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Seminoles, whose season ended last week with a loss to Valparaiso in the NIT. ESPN draft specialist Chad Ford puts him “firmly on the first-round bubble” (Twitter link). Ford has Beasley listed 45th overall and eighth among shooting guards in his latest mock draft. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress puts Beasley 32nd on his list of the top 100 prospects.

Beasley would have been “foolish” not to enter the draft this year, tweets Mike Schmitz of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. In his evaluation of the 19-year-old, Schmitz says Beasley offers athleticism, shooting and slashing ability and is particularly dangerous in the open court. Question marks include his abilities as a shot creator, playmaker and defender.

And-Ones: Morris, Lawson, Wade, Beasley

March 22nd, 2016 at 4:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s an awkward situation for the Morris twins these days, as Markieff Morris tries to lift the Wizards to a playoff spot while Marcus Morris makes the same effort for the Pistons, one of the teams standing in Washington’s path. Still, both agree that the Suns wronged them, as they tell Michael Lee of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. Markieff Morris told Lee he never would have put pen to paper on the extension he signed in 2014 if he knew they would trade his brother, while Marcus Morris continued his criticism of the Suns for their failure to provide advance warning of the offseason swap. “Personally, I think he did a lot for Phoenix. He took a lot of sacrifices for Phoenix. For them to do such a thing, I feel like they backstabbed him,” Marcus Morris said about his brother. “I think if they had just reached out to him, reached out to both of us and said, ‘Listen, this is our direction. We don’t think this is going to work.’ We would understand, that’s what has to happen but by the fact that they didn’t do that, it made it worse. … He just didn’t want to be there. He didn’t feel the vibe.”

Phoenix traded Markieff Morris to Washington at the trade deadline, months after he demanded to be traded. See more from around the NBA:

Ty Lawson received one year of probation stemming from a guilty plea he submitted to charges related to his drunken driving arrest in January 2015, reports Tom McGhee of The Denver Post. It’s separate from the case involving a second DUI arrest that took place in July 2015. The NBA suspended Lawson, now with the Pacers, for a total of five games for both arrests earlier this season.
Dwyane Wade walked back the suggestion Pat Riley made that he might play until he’s 40, notes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, but it’s clear that the relationship between the Heat and the 34-year-old star is strong, and seemingly in much better shape than when Wade reportedly considered leaving Miami last summer. Wade instead signed a one-year, $20MM contract that will make him a free agent against this coming offseason. “It’s just at this point I’m not thinking about playing until 40, no way, no how, at this point,” Wade said. “But I’m 34, so I’m just thinking about each year, each year, and keeping going from there.
A number of NBA executives project Malik Beasley as a mid-first round pick in this year’s draft, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. The assessments of the executives Kennedy spoke with differ from a number of current predraft rankings, with ESPN’s Chad Ford listing Beasley at 45th overall in his latest mock draft and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress slotting Beasley 32nd on his list of the top 100 prospects.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.