Malik Beasley

Beasley was traded to Utah as part of the Rudy Gobert deal, landing in what could be a favorable situation. After a breakout season in 2020-21, Beasley regressed in the most recent campaign, barely finishing inside the top 200 in eight-category roto leagues. His offensive ability is evident, but unfortunately, he provides no value on the defensive end and is coming off a season in which he shot just 39 percent from the floor. With Utah tearing things down, Beasley could find himself trending closer to 30 minutes per game. That would be a best-case scenario and could see him nudging the top 100 at stages throughout the season.

In his first full season as a member of the Timberwolves, Beasley averaged 19.6 points per game, shot 39.9 percent from three and started all but one of his appearances. The problem was he only played in 37 games, as a suspension and a hamstring injury kept him sidelined for 35 of the Wolves' final 39 contests. When active, Beasley is one of the league's most underrated, high-volume three-point shooters. He launched 8.7 threes per game last season -- up slightly from the 8.2 per game he attempted in 14 games for Minnesota in 2019-20. The Florida State product is also a knockdown free throw shooter (85 FT% last season) who adds decent rebounds (4.4 RPG) and assists (2.4 APG) contributions. Beasley enters 2021-22 as a projected starter on the wing alongside second-year guard Anthony Edwards. For a middling team, the Timberwolves have several mouths to feed, so it's possible Beasley could cede more shots to Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell, as well as Edwards, who thrived late in the season while Beasley was on the shelf. Even so, Beasley makes for a solid target in the later rounds of a standard fantasy draft.

Beasley was having a relatively modest season in 2019-20 with Denver, averaging 7.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.2 minutes across his 41 appearances with the team. However, things changed drastically when he was traded to the Timberwolves in early February. In his 14 appearances (all starts) with Minnesota, Beasley caught fire, averaging 20.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 threes and 1.9 assists in 33.1 minutes. He re-upped with Minnesota during the offseason, inking a four-year, $60 million deal. The Wolves also traded for Ricky Rubio, retained D'Angelo Russell and selected Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 overall pick. That means Beasley is not a guaranteed starter and could come off the bench in a sixth-man capacity behind Russell and Edwards. As a result, he'll likely struggle to reach the heights he claimed with the Wolves last season, but he should remain fantasy relevant.

Coming into last season, Beasley was ticketed for limited playing time off the bench with the likes of Will Barton and Gary Harris ahead of him on the depth chart. He had only averaged 9.0 minutes per game during the 2017-18 campaign, leaving him with few opportunities to make an impact on the fantasy landscape. However, the Nuggets dealt with many injuries throughout last season, which enabled Beasley to play in 81 games and average 23.2 minutes per contest. He really shined in the 18 games that he started, averaging 15.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and three three-pointers. While there were many positives for the Florida State product in 2018-19, Beasley's role may be reduced heading into 2019-20. Assuming Harris and Barton stay healthy, not to mention the potential emergence of Michael Porter Jr. as a rotation piece, Beasley will have to fight for a role on the wing. As a result, he can be avoided in the vast majority of fantasy leagues.

Beasley’s workload varied significantly last year, playing just 583 total minutes -- not giving him consistent opportunities to demonstrate his skillset. He did see 20-plus minutes on five occasions, however, averaging 8.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He put in a second year of summer league this July, looking especially locked in defensively (seven steals in three games). Beasley also averaged 16.0 points, but shot a worse percentage than during 2017 summer league. Considering the Nuggets’ lack of depth, Beasley should have an opportunity in training camp to compete for a backup role. However, it seems highly unlikely he turns Fantasy relevant.

After being selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Beasley found himself buried on the depth chart throughout his rookie campaign and played in just 22 games. He put together an average of just 3.8 points across 7.5 minutes, as he was out of the rotation for much of the season. Most of Beasley's time came in the formerly known D-League, where he averaged 18.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 16 games last season. That gave a glimpse of what the 20-year-old can do, though there's obviously a severe talent gap between the two leagues, so Beasley will have plenty of work to do to become a contributor at the next level. Beasley could see a few more minutes during his sophomore campaign, but the fact that Gary Harris and Will Barton still sit ahead of him on the shooting guard depth chart, likely means Beasley isn't going to play a huge role. That should keep him off the Fantasy radar in most formats.

Beasley earned a reputation as an explosive player on both ends of the court during his freshman season at Florida State, averaging 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game before deciding to turn pro. A foot injury limited his ability to work out for teams before the draft, but the Nuggets were comfortable grabbing him at No. 19 to add to the team's backcourt depth along with No. 7 overall pick Jamal Murray. The Nuggets are now among the league's deepest teams, particularly on the wing, so Beasley may have difficulty carving out more than a minor role off the bench as a rookie. Beasley profiles best as a shooting guard long term, but he projects to open the year behind Gary Harris, Will Barton and Murray on the depth chart and could be in line for some extensive time in the D-League.