After not receiving heavy interest from NBA teams during the off-season, including the Miami Heat, Michael Beasley eventually latched on with the Memphis Grizzlies. Today, the word is Beasley has left camp with the Grizzlies to sign a deal to play in China.
Yahoo Sports: Michael Beasley leaves Grizzlies camp, signing lucrative one-year deal in China. http://t.co/VU7vUbEC1h
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 9, 2014
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While a trip to China could mean the end of the road for his NBA future, that does not necessarily have to be the case. While Beasley became a more efficient player last season with the Heat, there was grumblings about the Heat not being happy with his lack of maturity.
Pat Riley addressed the decision to let Beasley leave earlier this week, and it seemed like he thought the move was the best for both sides.
"“I love Mike, but we’re moving on,” Riley said. “When [LeBron James] left, we just cleaned the table. It’s time to move on. It really had nothing to do with anything but we’re just moving in another direction, in another way, and it was nothing punitive, there was nothing bad.“I wish him nothing but the best. But we decided, in the long run, Josh McRoberts and Shawne, Chris [Bosh], Chris Andersen, Udonis [Haslem] and the guys we had there. I didn’t want him to be put in the position of not playing, maybe.”"
To me, Riley did not seem to be closing the door on an eventual return for Beasley to Miami. And with Beasley signing in China, that return could be as soon as this season, if the talented forward can turn his potential into real production over-seas.
At the conclusion of the Chinese basketball season in March, Beasley could return to the NBA, to a team seeking to upgrade their roster. If Danny Granger is ineffective or hurt, or if James Ennis proves to be unready for the NBA stage, the Heat could look to sign Beasley to fill a void on a team that should be contending for one of the top 4 spots in the Eastern Conference.
While this seems like a long shot at best, the door for Beasley’s NBA, nor his Miami Heat careers, should be closed just yet. If the Heat are in need of a big-time scorer come March and Beasley impresses in China, we could be looking at a return to Miami from the former number 2 overall pick.