No KD input on Beasley
Marks says Durant had nothing to do with signing
The Nets have an incomplete roster with a number of players bowing out of the Orlando bubble due to injury or coronavirus concerns. Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks has already begun piecing together his team with what’s left on the freeagent market now that the NBA’s transaction window has closed.
His latest order of business was signing Michael Beasley, a good friend of Kevin Durant.
Durant signed a four-year deal worth $164 million with the Nets last summer, headlining a star-studded Brooklyn haul that also included Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan. In a recent conference call, Marks said Durant’s input would be welcome and critical for an organization that hopes to morph into a championship contender next season.
But the Nets’ GM pushed back against any notion that Durant pulled the strings to sign Beasley — who hasn’t played an NBA game this season and will have to serve a five-game suspension for a drug test he failed last April.
“Kevin is working on his rehab, getting back on the court and so forth. I don’t think that’s fair to call Kevin on every single scenario we do,” Marks said in a conference call on Thursday. “I think it’s probably well-documented over the course of the last few years that those two are pretty close, but that wasn’t a factor in this.”
Durant and Beasley are both from Prince George’s County, Maryland and played AAU basketball together growing up. In a 2018 conversation with former ESPN insider Chris Haynes, Beasley said Durant was “my first real friend — Like sleepovers. He was the first time I ever brought my XBox out the house. And left it over there!”
“It was territories out there where we come from. We hooped, though, and when you hoop, it feels like you get passes everywhere,” Durant said. “We hooped everywhere and we didn’t care. That’s when I started to realize what friends were about. I was always in the gym, either by myself, or with Mike or with my team. I didn’t really have no real friends, either.”
Beasley is two years removed from his best season since 2011. He appeared in 74 games for the New York Knicks in the 2017-18 season and averaged about 13 points and six rebounds on 50% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from three.
Brooklyn could certainly use his production. The only Nets players traveling to Orlando who are averaging double-digit scoring this season are Caris LeVert (17.7), Joe
Harris (13.9), Jarrett Allen (10.6), and Garrett Temple (10.3). New Nets addition Tyler Johnson averaged around 11 points per game each of the five seasons preceding this one. The Suns ultimately waived him after 31 games.
“We’re looking at who’s available and the talent, and Mike certainly is that,” Marks said. “I look forward to getting him out on the court with this group and with this coaching staff.”
Beasley is the second official addition to the Nets now that the season is almost underway in Orlando. The Nets also waived reserve guard Theo Pinson to make room for Johnson.
Brooklyn has also reportedly come to agreements with forward Justin Anderson and scoring guard Jamal Crawford, though neither signing has been made official and Marks would not comment on them.
If official, the Nets would have one more open roster slot remaining. Jarrett Allen is currently the only center on the roster, making the five spot a glaring need for Brooklyn’s roster. They have reportedly signed G-League standout forward-center Donta Hall to a deal for the remainder of the season.
“We’re certainly looking at that. There are a couple of different positions we’re looking to fill,” Marks said. “It comes down to a number of factors: how quickly guys can get here, how they fit with the roster that we already have and how the coaches and Jacque may want to use these guys over the course of the next few months.
“It’s been a moving target to say it best. We’ve looked at a variety of different guys. I think we’re factoring in the needs of the team,” he continued. “We’re always trying to evaluate talent, but there’s been a lot of factors going in, and we’re also taking into account where these players are coming from. I don’t think any team that’s looking at replacement players has found this an easy, smooth process.”