Warriors targeting Bucks sharpshooter in free agency

Golden State is reportedly showing ‘early interest’ in Malik Beasley

The Golden State Warriors could be seeing big changes this summer. But what hasn’t changed is their interest in outside shooting.

According to Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Warriors are interested in Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard Malik Beasley, along with the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic. Beasley started 77 of his 79 games for the Bucks, averaging 11.3 points and shooting over 41% from three-point range. He’s a 38.5 three-point shooter for his career, and was 11th in the NBA in made threes last year with 224. That’s four more than teammate Damian Lillard!

Beasley started his career with the Denver Nuggets, where he emerged in the 2018-19 season as the sixth man on a 54-win win. He finished 11th in the Sixth Man of the Year vote and also 11th in the Most Improved Player vote. In the Nuggets’ 14 playoff games, he averaged 8.1 points and shot 40% from deep as Denver lost a close Game 7 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Who, if you don’t remember, got swept by the Warriors in the next round.

The young guard gained off-the-court notoriety that fall, when he fought Denver Broncos safety Su’a Cravens in the lobby of his apartment building over an Instagram model, shirtless and wearing Nuggets shorts.

But at the trade deadline that year, Denver traded Beasley, along with future movie star Juancho Hernangomez and future Laker Jarred Vanderbilt, to the Minnesota Timberwolves. This was mainly to clear roster space and salary room because the Nuggets wanted to retain Jerami Grant, but he jumped to the Detroit Pistons instead, and they pivoted by trading for Aaron Gordon instead.

After the trade, Beasley became a starter for the Timberwolves, who also acquired D’Angelo Russell from the Warriors the next day. His scoring increased to over 20 points per game for the season’s final 14 games, and as a result, Minnesota gave him a four-year $60 million deal before the next season.

But things soured quickly, when a couple and their teenage son pulled up outside Beasley’s home on a house-hunting trip, and Beasley pointed a rifle at them and demanded they leave. Police found weapons and nearly two pounds of marijuana in his house and he later received a 120-day jail sentence, and got suspended from the Timberwolves for 12 games.

What was notable about the drug part was that the marijuana was found next to a notebook containing instructions on how to smoke marijuana. In a way, that’s the confidence you need from your bench scorer. Buying 1 ³⁄₄ pounds of marijuana without any idea on what to do with it is the narcotics equivalent of a heat check.

Thankfully recreational marijuana is legal in California, and if Klay Thompson returns, he can provide the mentorship that Beasley so obviously needs.

Beasley changed teams again at the deadline in 2023, after a blockbuster deal sent him, along with Russell and Vanderbilt, to the Los Angeles Lakers. There he played just 24 minutes in the Warriors’ six-game second-round loss to the Lake Show, totaling eight points, two threes and one rebound.

Los Angeles declined Beasley’s $16.5 million option for last season, and he ended up signing a one-year, $2 million deal with the Bucks instead. The Lakers did save some money and opened up other roster moves, but they also finished 24th in the league in three-pointers, and not a single player on their team fought with an NFL player at his apartment. Financial decisions have consequences.

How would he fit with the Warriors? He makes threes, something the Warriors did more than all but one other NBA team last season, but at only the seventh-best percentage. Beasley is still only 27 and has been extremely durable the last three seasons, missing only seven games. He gets a decent amount of deflections and was very good at grabbing loose balls on defense last season. Plus, he rarely draws charges, so he won’t be stepping on Brandin Podziemski’s toes.

Malik Beasley is not a star, but he started 77 games for the team with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. He’s best described as a floor-raising player, meaning he’s going to provide a level of play that isn’t going to take a team over the top, but he also won’t hurt your chances. He handles the ball without embarrassing himself, but he doesn’t get a ton of assists. Beasley doesn’t help the Warriors’ size, but he also doesn’t really hurt it.

Basically, the Warriors could probably do a little better than Beasley in free agency, but they could also do a lot worse. If he’s not asking for a ton of money, he fits the team nicely. Plus, Santa Clara is too far away for an angry 49er to visit Beasley’s apartment without getting madder at the traffic than he is at whatever Beasley said or did.