With the 19th pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets have selected Malik Beasley, a 19-year-old shooting guard who spent his sole season in college playing for the Florida State Seminoles.
NBA Draft 2016: Malik Beasley taken 19th by Nuggets
The Florida State star is heading to the Rocky Mountains.
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Beasley was an unheralded prospect heading into college and was not supposed to be a one-and-done prospect. He turned heads with his production as a freshman, however, so he decided to stay in the draft. He averaged 15 points per game while shooting 51 percent on two-pointers and 39 percent from behind the arc. He was also productive on the boards, pulling down five per game.
It made sense for him to enter his name in the draft, though it was surprising considering his background. He didn't get to impress executives in the NCAA Tournament, as the Seminoles played the NIT, and he became the first Florida State player to declare after just one season in program history. His bold move paid off when he drafted by the Nuggets.
Beasley has the potential to be a quality scorer at the NBA level. He will need to work on his ball-handling to become a go-to option, but could help on that end in his rookie season. His jumper is deadly in catch-and-shoot situations and he has the athleticism and physicality needed to attack closeout and get all the way to the rim, as No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram found out when he faced him:
Beasley should be able to develop into a solid role player on offense. The question marks are on the other end.
Standing at just 6’5 and with a wingspan of 6’7, he lacks ideal tools for an NBA wing on defense. The ability to defend multiple positions is at a premium right now, but Beasley lacks the strength to move up to small forward and doesn’t have the length to defend lead guards. Add to that the iffy fundamentals players his age typically boast, and things could get ugly early in his pro career.
The good news is that by all accounts, he has tremendous work ethic. The son of actors Michael and Deena Beasley, Malik had plenty of other options when it came to deciding on a career. He did some commercial acting of his own as a child, but left it all behind to focus on basketball. His relentless motor essentially forced coach Leonard Hamilton to feature him as a freshman, according to Chris Logan of FSUNews:
“I thought he was focused the entire time. We don’t like to play guys that many minutes, but we stuck with him because he seemed to be energized - he didn’t fatigue.”
Beasley is young, athletic and has a solid jump shot already. He might never be a lockdown defender at the wing but if he keeps working on his fundamentals, he could improve enough on that end to become a good rotation player. At this point in the draft, he’s a good gamble, one that could pay off greatly for the Nuggets.
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