The Buck Stops Here Roundtable #6: Extensions, Injuries and Trades
By Tim Wray
To a somewhat mixed reaction among Bucks fans, the team acquired former second-overall pick, Michael Beasley from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Tyler Ennis. Are you a fan of this move, and what sort of production do you expect from Beasley next season?
JH: The Bucks bench got markedly better with this trade. The combination of Greg Monroe, Michael Carter-Williams, Jason Terry, Mirza Teletovic, and now Michael Beasley is going to do a lot of damage to bench defenses. They might give up some points against team’s with strong interior scoring but beyond that they should be fun to watch and competitive. This was a good trade to make but, at the same time, it probably won’t move the needle much.
RK: I was happy that Tyler Ennis got moved in this deal. He wasn’t likely to see many minutes this year behind MCW and Delly, so moving him was the best option. Michael Beasely seems like he could be a decent second unit player, but playing in China until mid season last year speaks volumes for a former number two overall pick.
AM: I could say Michael Beasley is mysterious or difficult to understand, without it even being apparent that I’ve replaced his name with the Oxford English dictionary definition of an enigma. That says everything that you need to know, really.
He was fascinating to listen to on Media Day, and on top of being funny, he spoke like someone who has gained a self-awareness of his former pitfalls. I’m not ready to believe that’s actually true yet, but I’m ready to hope it is. Theoretically he could offer a scoring boost, but it really all comes down to if he can suddenly become passable defensively. Likely a member of an already suspect defensive unit, it’s good that Beasley has voiced excitement about the defensive side of the ball, but delivering on promise has always been the hardest part of the deal for him.
I’m not a fan of the deal yet, but Michael Beasley could certainly win me over if he can be who he thinks he is already. Ennis is better than everyone gives him credit for, but with limited minutes for him in Milwaukee, he was always most likely to be dealt in a trade. Unsurprising, but potentially another name who could join Norman Powell in the what could have been stakes where so many Bucks fans love to reside.
JT: (clears throat very loudly) Well, I don’t know about you, but I may have voiced my displeasure with this move very loudly shortly after it happened, not that there’s audio or written proof of that (eyes dart around). However, in the days since, my disapproval with the trade has started to wane. My feelings on Tyler Ennis aside, I understand Beasley can offer a scoring punch at a position the Bucks were light on off the bench. With that said, I just know it’ll likely be a wash, considering Beasley’s defensive deficiencies. Nonetheless, I can already feel myself coming around on Beasley, but forgive me if there are times where I stir my drink like Al Roker after watching the worst of Beasley at times throughout the season.
TW: Between Michael Beasley’s off-court reputation, terrible on/off numbers, usage rate of almost 30% and defensive struggles, I’m not the biggest fan of this move for the Bucks. Tyler Ennis was always in an extremely vulnerable position in the depth chart. The addition of Dellavedova and Terry over the off-season also made me question if he would be seeing much court time next season. Point being, I understand why Ennis was traded, I’m just not convinced sending him to Houston in exchange for Beasley was the right move. However, Milwaukee was in dire need of wing depth, especially with Middleton going down, so this does fill the bulk of the minutes at the back-up small forward position where he should take plenty of shots and provide a spark on offense with the ‘no-defense’ second unit. I’m not totally writing Beasley off, there’s no question he has talent, but if the Bucks feel they can get something useful out of him…we’ll wait and see.