Left out in the cold, Michael Beasley will be returning to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The 30-year-old forward found himself without a team after he was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Los Angeles Clippers who would, later on, waive him.
Beasley had signed a one-year deal with the Lakers in the 2018-19 offseason in an effort to add more firepower to the charges of head coach Luke Walton. Unfortunately, things didn't pan out for the second overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft. He missed much of the first half of the season to be with his sick mother and never really got to roll with the purple and gold.
Come the NBA trade deadline, Beasley was dealt alongside Ivica Zubac to the Clippers for Mike Muscala. He would be waived two-days later and no NBA team really came forward to pick him up thereafter.
Ex-Lakers forward Michael Beasley is finalizing a deal with .... Guangdong of the Chinese Basketball Association, sources tell ESPN. Short run of two months, significant cash. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2019
It will be a homecoming of sorts for Beasley who already had stints with the Shanghai Sharks and the Shandong Golden Stars, the Bleacher Report said. In fact, he has had eye-popping performances in the past.
During the 2014-15 CBA season, he suited up for the Shanghai Sharks. But Beasley drew attention during the CBA All-Star game when he came off the bench to score a game-high 59 points. He set a league record for most points in the league's All-Star Game.
Beasley would return for a second stint in the 2015-16 CBA season with the Shandong Golden Stars. He would again explode in the All-Star game, setting another game-high performance of 63 points to go with 19 rebounds and 13 assists.
It was with the Golden Stars where Beasley had his best finish in the CBA. He led Shandong to the playoffs before the Southern Tigers (ironically his new team) would sweep them in the first round 3-0.
In both CBA stints, Beasley headed to China in an effort to stay in shape and wait for a call back to the NBA. Depending on how he performs this time around, it will be interesting if the same holds true for this third CBA coming.
Although he has shown he can produce monster numbers in China, Beasley has been unable to do the same in the NBA. Also, the same report revealed that he is being offered a significant amount of cash to suit up with the Southern Tigers, something that could factor into his future decision-making.
