2016-17 Fantasy Basketball Outlook: Michael Beasley

With Khris Middleton expected to miss six months after surgery on his left hamstring, the Milwaukee Bucks were in need of some scoring punch. To that end on Thursday, they sent guard Tyler Ennis to the Houston Rockets for forward Michael Beasley. The deal had reportedly been in the works prior to Middleton’s injury, so it was truly a case of unique timing that the trade was finalized when it was.

Beasley was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 draft, and he spent most of last season playing in China. After averaging 31.9 points and 13.4 rebounds over there, he landed with the Houston Rockets. Over 20 regular season games with the Rockets, Beasley averaged 12.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in a bench role (18.2 minutes per game).

There’s no easy way for the Bucks to replace Middleton, since he led the team in scoring last season (18.2 points per game) while also contributing 4.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Fantasy basketball owners have time to cross Middleton off their draft boards, but is Beasley now on the radar?

Beasley is a negative value defensive player, based on advanced data or simply watching him play over his NBA career, with surface stats for his career (0.6 steals and 0.5 blocked shots per game) to back that up. His field goal percentage last season with Houston was a career-best 52.2 percent, albeit in a small sample, with a usage rate (29.7 percent) that was also a career-high.

Beasley should be able to focus on offense in a bench role for the Bucks, and he could see minutes at both forward spots. I’m comfortable projecting 15-20 minutes per game, with some fluctuation based on point margin, opponent or Beasley’s own effort level. That brings 10-11 points and 3-4 rebounds per game into the picture for him, as uninspiring as that may sound.

Beasley is not among CBS Sports.com’s pre-draft Top-100 forwards right now, and the trade to Milwaukee is highly unlikely to put him there in any upcoming updates. But Beasley could be worth a late-round draft flier in very deep leagues, where his potential as a volume scorer should stand out among other options.

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