Should the Boston Celtics pursue one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters, now that he’s back on the market?
HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported on Sunday that a pair of Eastern Conference contenders — the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers — are interested in this player.
“The Knicks and Cavaliers have checked in on Malik Beasley, sources told @hoopshype,” Scotto wrote.
“Knicks executive Gersson Rosas signed Beasley to a four-year, $60M deal with the Timberwolves. Knicks and Cavs have minimum deals to offer. Beasley is no longer a target of a federal investigation.”
Wait, did he say, “federal investigation”?
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For those unaware, Beasley was indeed the recent target of a federal investigation based on, in the words of ESPN’s Shams Charania, “allegations regarding gambling on NBA games and prop bets during the 2023-24 season.”
Reports of the investigation hit the press on June 29, completely spoiling Beasley’s free agency prospects.
Per Charania, the Detroit Pistons (Beasley’s most recent team) were ready to finalize a three-year, $42 million deal with Beasley. “But that proposal evaporated after the franchise became aware of the federal investigation, and sources said other interested teams paused conversations with Beasley as well,” Charania reported.
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Less than two months later, Beasley’s name has been cleared. On Sunday, Charania reported the following:
“Malik Beasley is no longer a target of the federal gambling investigation conducted by the Eastern District of New York, his attorneys, Steve Haney and Mike Schachter, told ESPN on Friday, potentially reopening free agency for one of the NBA’s top shooters.”
The investigation came at a wildly unfortunate time for Beasley, who may have missed out on tens of millions of dollars. While Scotto’s report that the Knicks and Cavs are monitoring Beasley is not surprising, the mention of minimum deals suggests that Beasley — moments away from a $42 million deal in June — could be playing on a minimum contract in 2025-26.
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If that truly is a possibility, plenty of teams might come calling for Beasley, including teams that assumed back in June that Beasley was far beyond the grasp of their budget.
The Celtics — who have previously pursued Beasley in the Brad Stevens era — suddenly can’t be ruled out as a landing spot.
Stevens has been hyper-focused on subtracting — not adding — team salary this offseason. However, adding a minimum contract wouldn’t clash with that game plan.
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Who says no?