At the current rate, Michael Beasley is going to find himself without a place for him not just with the Phoenix Suns, but the entire NBA, as all of his behavioral and disciplinary problems keep adding up, painting a very grim picture of a talented player who just isn’t cut out for the obligations of a professional player.
The Suns signed Beasley on a 3-year, $18 million contract before last season, and have been regretting it ever since. Not because of his scoring numbers (10.1 points per game on 20.7 minutes a night), but because of yet another example of Beasley not connecting or relating to the team, before even mentioning his arrest.
Even if they still have two more seasons on his deal, with $9 million guaranteed, the Suns feel like the best course of action will be admitting to their mistake and letting him go. Cutting their losses and so forth. It’s also about having a new general manager (Ryan McDonough) not wanting to feel obligated to the mistakes of his predecessor.
The hiring of McDonough and Hornacek were about making some sort of cultural change in the team, and holding on to parts of questionable morality and contribution, not to mention negative contribution, seem to be like the wrong way to go with things. Losing money but winning some dressing room quiet and karma points might be more important.
And for Beasley? He can score points, and he can rebound. But how serious is he about remaining an NBA player? Everything he’s done up to this point seems to suggest that there are more important things to him than basketball, and in a league like the NBA, when those things aren’t family or something that actually helps you stay centered and/or focused, the chances of remaining in it aren’t that great.