In Michael Beasley’s 20 games with the Rockets last season after coming back from playing in China, he reminded everyone he knows how to get buckets. He averaged 12.8 points a game on 52.2 percent shooting overall, and he was the most reliable shot creator on the team without a fantastic beard. He wasn’t great defensively, but even in the playoffs he put up double digit scoring numbers against the Warriors.
That sounds like Mike D’Antoni’s kind of guy — so Houston is keeping him around. His $1.4 million contract for next season became fully guaranteed today (Aug. 1), as noted by Marc Stein of ESPN.
At that price, it’s a smart move by the Rockets. He likely will be Trevor Ariza’s main backup, asked to create shots with the second unit when James Harden sits, although he needs to take fewer long twos (22.9 percent of his shots were 16 feet out to the arc, and while he hit a healthy 44 percent of those it’s not a shot he should rely on.
We know about Beasley’s past issues in the NBA, but the guy has matured, and he is putting up points. The Rockets could use that.
