Getty Michael Beasley with former Los Angeles Lakers teammates.
Coming out of college, Michael Beasley was one of the most hyped prospects in the NBA. He averaged 26.2 points a game during his lone season at Kansas and was destined to be an NBA superstar. Beasley put together a long career but never reached the heights that were expected of him. He never made an All-Star game and averaged 12.4 points a game over his career.
After a decade in the NBA, Beasley spent his last season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He couldn’t land on another roster and decided to play overseas. He played in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional basketball league of Puerto Rico for a year, but the forward has decided to take his talents to the Chinese Basketball Association and the Shanghai Sharks on a seven-figure deal, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources: Former NBA No. 2 pick Michael Beasley is returning to professional basketball and will sign a seven-figure deal with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Beasley will be joining fellow former NBA players Jamaal Franklin and Noah Vonleh in Shanghai. The Sharks are consistently one of the best teams in the CBA and Beasley will only make them better. While he had limited success in the NBA, he should have a much easier time in the CBA.
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Any Chance Beasley Returns to NBA?
Though Beasley is off to China, it doesn’t mean he won’t be back in the NBA at some point. He’s 33-years-old so he has some juice left in the tank. Recently, Lance Stephenson had a stint in the CBA and was able to get back into the NBA this season.
If Beasley balls out in China, teams could reevaluate interest in him. However, the CBA might be a good spot for him to stick around. He never had much success in the NBA and could end up being a star in China.
Lakers Have Big Roster Moves Ahead
While Beasley is off to play overseas, the last NBA team he played for has a lot of work to do this offseason. This season, the Lakers were the league’s biggest disappointment and had to replace Frank Vogel with Darvin Ham as head coach. However, a change of head coach isn’t going to fix the team’s problems. The roster was a mess filled with aging veterans this season. Many were concerned about the team’s age but players like LeBron James came out against that notion.
Turns out that the critics were right as the Lakers couldn’t play defense or stay healthy. Los Angeles has limited flexibility with what it can do due to massive contracts for LeBron, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook on the books. That said, the team focusing on adding young defenders with upside would already be a step in the right direction. The Lakers aren’t going to be adding any superstars this offseason unless they trade Westbrook. If that doesn’t happen, the roster needs to be way younger than it was last season. It remains to be seen if vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka can pull it off. He might be heading into his last season with the team if he can’t.
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Former Lakers Forward Signs 7-Figure Contract With Overseas Team