A former Chicago Bulls superstar, point guard Derrick Rose, will be linking up with another fellow 2008 draftee, Michael Beasley, with the Detroit Pistons.
More than 10 years ago, the NBA universe was trying to figure out whether former Memphis Tigers All-American point guard Derrick Rose or Kansas State Wildcats forward Michael Beasley was worthy of getting selected as the first overall pick. In the 2008 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected a Windy City native, D-Rose, after winning the lottery to get the first pick. That left Beasley to the Miami Heat at No. 2 overall.
However, D-Rose and Beasley had very different journeys in their first decade in the NBA up to the current offseason. A little less than 10 years ago, Rose became the youngest player to ever get the NBA MVP honors. Meanwhile, Beasley floundered during most of the first decade of his NBA career in trying to live up to the massive billing he had coming out of Kansas State.
The most relevance that Beasley saw at the NBA ranks in recent memory was his brief stint next to superstar forward LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers last season. But that was a tremendously disappointing season for the Lakers in general as they missed the playoffs completely in LeBron’s inaugural campaign in Los Angeles.
However, the top two picks from the 2008 NBA Draft were signed to new contracts this summer with the Detroit Pistons. D-Rose had the higher profile free agent signing at the outset of this cycle last month. But Beasley was a recent free agent signing of the Pistons during a mostly quiet month of August.
Free agent Michael Beasley has agreed to a one-year deal with the Detroit Pistons, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 11, 2019
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Pistons made the move to sign Beasley after he agreed to a deal originally this summer to play in the Chinese league. But he is facing a five-game suspension in the NBA for the coming regular season for violating the anti-drug policy.
Beasley did have himself somewhat of a rebound campaign with the New York Knicks two seasons ago where he averaged more than 13.0 points per game and 5.6 rebounds. Last season with the Lakers, Beasley averaged 7.0 points per game and 2.3 rebounds. He did have player efficiency ratings better than 15.5 in each of the last two seasons with the Knicks and Lakers.
This could be a good signing for the Pistons if Beasley is able to stay out of trouble off the court. If nothing else, he adds wing depth to the rotation. But D-Rose should be getting a bigger spotlight in the Pistons rotation than Beasley.
D-Rose is coming off a good season in a backup role with the Minnesota Timberwolves where he averaged 18.0 points per game and 4.3 assists while shooting 37 percent from three-point range. Staying in a small market is a good move for both Rose and Beasley and this should add a lot of depth and veteran experience to the Pistons locker room.