The Michael Beasley experiment is officially underway in Miami, after the Suns negotiated a buyout of his contract following a disappointing first season in Phoenix that came along with it some off-the-court legal troubles that helped make the franchise’s decision to part ways with the troubled forward a little bit easier.
Beasley is being given every opportunity to succeed in his new situation -- he’s had Dwyane Wade “in his ear” at practices, and had a sit-down with veteran Udonis Haslem who tried to set Beasley straight.
When all is said and done, though, it’ll be on Beasley and no one else if he does or does not manage to carve out a productive career for himself at the NBA level. Media that have covered Beasley at his various professional stops just shake their heads collectively when hearing him speak in his new situation, and the latest comments out of Miami won’t have any of us feeling any differently about him finally choosing to turn things around.
From Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida:Beasley, who has had a number of off-court problems in his six-year career, is on a short leash. Because he didn’t get any guaranteed money, the Heat can release him at any time without penalty if has another misstep.
“I guess if you want to look at it that way,” Beasley said. “I’m not looking at it that way. I’m just here to play basketball. I’m not going to be looking at not making mistakes or trying not to mess up. Just trying to do things the right way consistently and let everything fall into place.”
It might be easy to say we’re cherry-picking quotes here to make Beasley look a certain way, but the reality is that statements like these continue to exhibit a pattern of cluelessness that’s plagued Beasley throughout his career.
Essentially, this is just continuing evidence that he just doesn’t get it -- much in the same way he said he stopped listening to his coaches last season in Phoenix.
The idea of “not making mistakes” should absolutely be Beasley’s focus at this point. He’s got a final chance with an organization that knows him a little bit, but he’s on a non-guaranteed contract at the moment. He’ll have to prove his worth to stick around, but his chances might improve tremendously if he could find a way to keep his foot out of his mouth -- something my man Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald thinks may be on the horizon.
