Player Preview: Malik Beasley and the importance of having a sixth-man
If the Minnesota Timberwolves want a more balanced lineup, then Malik Beasley will have to come off the bench. That’s not a bad thing for either party because he’ll likely have a larger role offensively, and be put in a position to win Sixth Man of the Year.
The way this current Timberwolves team is constructed, they have enough offensive players but not enough defense. Adding Patrick Beverley to the mix helps, but it’s hard to imagine them moving from 28th to 15th (defensive rating).
A balanced lineup could look like this:
Starting:
PG: D’Angelo Russell
SG: Anthony Edwards
SF: Jaden McDaniels
PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Karl-Anthony Towns
Bench:
PG: Beverley
SG: Beasley
SF: Josh Okogie
PF: Taurean Prince
C: Naz Reid
In the Wolves’ first preseason game, Okogie started, and Vanderbilt came off the bench. The biggest takeaway was that Beasley wasn’t in the starting lineup. That’s not to suggest he isn’t a starter or as good as Okogie; Beasley just fits better off the bench.
Chris Finch has suggested Edwards’s defense has improved, and in that first preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans, that was 100 percent accurate. If that kind of play continues, then Russell is the lone player in that starting group who struggles to defend. If four of the five starters are capable defenders, why would Beasley come off the bench?
To simply put it, the Timberwolves need offense off the bench. Reid, Prince and Beverley aren’t liabilities on offense, but they’re not going to light up the score like Beasley can. If he’s coming off the bench, he can get up as many shots as he’d like – bringing a scoring punch.
You could even make a case that he’s one of the favorites to win Sixth Man of the Year. If you look at all the best teams in the NBA, they all have a good sixth-man (Jordan Clarkson – Utah, Derrick Rose – New York, Tim Hardaway Jr. – Dallas). The value of a player like that is important because it can be the determining factor in a lot of games.
Since being traded to the Wolves, he’s played a total of 51 games and averaged 19.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists. Beasley’s been elite shooting the ball, going 44.6 percent from the field, 39.1 from 3 and 81.6 from the charity stripe.
The hardest part about asking a player to come off the bench is dealing with how they react. Egos can get in the way, but it sounds like Beasley just wants to win.
The biggest question mark will be whether or not Beasley has fixed some of his off-court issues. During the Timberwolves media day, he commented on that:
The biggest part for me was mentally and off-court issues. Now I’m stronger in my head and able to get through all those types of things, so I feel like I can really focus on what I need to focus on.
He also emphasized that he’s been working on ball-handling and playmaking because those were the two biggest weaknesses in his game. If he improves in those two areas, it’s going to make cutting and spot-up opportunities easier for him.
Since being traded to Minnesota, Beasley has been a really good player, and it’ll be interesting to see how he responds to his new role.
