The Heat took a chance on Michael Beasley as a reclamation project last season, but he was unable to help the team on the court in anything resembling a meaningful way.
Beasley reportedly was on his best behavior in Miami, after a series of issues in Phoenix caused the Suns to decide on a parting of ways.
But a lack of production led to the team to look for assistance elsewhere, and while it isn’t yet 100 percent certain that Beasley won’t be back, the team didn’t hesitate in handing out his jersey number to one of its newly-acquired free agent signings.
From Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:The last time the Miami Heat gave away Michael Beasley’s number they at least waited a year before issuing No. 30 to Norris Cole.
This time, the transaction took place within a matter of weeks, with Beasley’s No. 8 already assigned to newcomer Shawne Williams for the coming season, even with Beasley still in limbo, as an unsigned free agent.
While the Heat still are eligible to retain Beasley, the numerology speaks otherwise.
This isn’t as bad as Houston prematurely giving away Jeremy Lin’s number to Carmelo Anthony this summer in a free agent pitch, because Lin was still a member of the Rockets at the time.
But if Beasley was still holding out hope that the Heat may be interested in having him back -- something that Pat Riley said “was still a consideration” a few weeks ago -- he might want to use this somewhat insensitive move by the franchise as a cue to begin to seek out employment options somewhere else.