With the Khris Middleton hamstring injury eliminating him from the team’s plans for the next six months, the Milwaukee Bucks needed a quick stopgap option in order to help out some depth issues. There aren’t a lot of easy options without the Bucks giving up a valuable asset in return, so instead of a big shakeup, they’ve decided to go lower risk, lower reward before training camp begins next week. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical is reporting that the Bucks have acquired former No. 2 pick Michael Beasley from the Houston Rockets in exchange for point guard prospect Tyler Ennis.
This makes the Bucks Beasley’s fifth NBA franchise in his career.
Without Middleton on the floor, this team was missing their best scorer and a valuable defender. While defense will certainly be a question with Beasley earning some minutes in Middleton’s place, his scoring ability could help offset some of the loss from Middleton. It’ll just be much different scoring. Beasley is often an isolation-heavy, mid-range type of scorer, and not the rangy wing the Bucks are used to with Middleton.
Overall, Beasley is a career 34.3 percent 3-point shooter, but has never been consistent year-to-year and isn’t a high volume outside shooter. However, he’s a veteran option that only cost them Ennis, who hasn’t really had much opportunity since joining the NBA as the 18th pick in the 2014 draft. Ennis is now joining his third team in three seasons after being drafted by the Phoenix Suns and ending up in Milwaukee during the Brandon Knight trade.
The 22-year old point guard has played just over 1,000 career minutes in 79 games over two seasons.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
