Grading Malik Beasley’s surprising deal with the Milwaukee Bucks
By Dalton Sell
Detailing Malik Beasley’s fit and role with the Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks clearly entered the off-season with a desire to get deeper at the wing position. Not only did they add Andre Jackson Jr., Chris Livingston, and Omari Moore via the draft, but they also kept Khris Middleton and Jae Crowder on new deals. That goes without mentioning the Bucks who are already under contract, including Pat Connaughton, Grayson Allen, and MarJon Beauchamp. Now, Bealsey will be another strong wing to add into the mix.
On the court, Beasley’s fit is seamless offensively. He’s an excellent perimeter shooter, having led the NBA in triples made off the bench this past season. While the Bucks likely will not emphasize the 3-pointer this coming season as much as they have in years past due to the coaching switch, it’ll never hurt to have a lethal outside threat like Beasley. Over the last five seasons, he’s put up 12.7 points while shooting 38 percent from deep on 6.9 attempts per game. A player capable of putting up numbers like that could certainly make an impact off of the bench.
Beasley will likely spend most of his minutes paired with Giannis Antetokounmpo to put a strong floor spacer on the court with him. This is a strategy that Mike Bundeholzer utilized when he was around, most notably with Bryn Forbes. When sharing the floor with Antetokounmpo, Forbes was often given an abundance of open looks, which helped fuel the best shooting season of his career, having hit a career-high 45.2 percent of his threes in 2020-21. Beasley will get his share of open looks courtesy of the Greek Freak, and it will be up to him to capitalize.
In short, Beasley has a shot to be a legitimate offensive threat for Milwaukee off of their bench.