According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, the Denver Nuggets are making Malik Beasley available in trade discussions. Scotto states in his NBA Trade Deadline Article that:
Denver is looking to upgrade at the wing and could be in play for Rodney Hood. The Nuggets have made Malik Beasley available in trade talks, league sources to The Athletic
Scotto goes into more detail about the Nuggets trade situation but you’ll have to subscribe to The Athletic to get it. It should honestly come as no surprise that Beasley is available in a trade. He’s been on the fringes of the rotation the entire year and the Nuggets already have two fantastic young guards in Jamal Murray (of breaking Steven Adams’ ankles fame) and Gary Harris (of breaking Paul George’s heart fame). However, Beasley has shown in his limited minutes that he is capable of helping a team. He’s also shown that he can be a solid defender, energy guy and not just a shooter who can jump out of the gym, not that that is a bad thing.
At just 21 years of age and with two more years left on his rookie contract, the last of which is still a team option, there’s a lot to like about Beasley. A young team with a solid core such as the Utah Jazz could add him as another piece of their future, or even a playoff team like the San Antonio Spurs could see him as a cost effective way to shore up wing depth right now, with the benefits of him developing into something more down the road.
Losing Beasley would hurt from a fan perspective. Despite being fairly far down on the depth chart he’s always been a team first guy and is the leader of the bench cheering section. Beasley also is very active in the community with all of his charity work. All in all, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who had anything negative to say about him. Still, at the end of the day basketball is a business and Beasley hasn’t shown enough on the court to justify “untouchable” status. Really, there are only four players who should be off the table: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Paul Millsap (Millsap because you’re not going to get a return near the value of what he brings on and off the court). The Nuggets are on the cusp of returning to relevancy so Tim Connelly and Arturas Karnisovas need to be looking at every avenue to improve the team. If they have to give up a young, talented and universally liked guy like Beasley to do it then, while it sucks from a fan perspective, it’s something they have to do.
