The Los Angeles Lakers shipped off Michael Beasley, who they signed to a 1-year deal in the offseason, at the trade deadline, packaging him with Ivica Zubac in a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers for Mike Muscala. The Clippers then released Beasley, who was averaging seven points per game for the Lakers, two days later. Without much interest from the rest of the NBA, Beasley is reportedly making a return to the Chinese Basketball Association.
Ex-Lakers forward Michael Beasley is finalizing a deal with …. Guangdong of the Chinese Basketball Association, sources tell ESPN. Short run of two months, significant cash.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2019
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Beasley is signing with the Guangdong Southern Tigers for the remaining two months of the season, and will do so for “significant cash.” Beasley has now had multiple stints in the CBA, playing for the Shanghai Sharks during the 2014-2015 season and the Shandong Golden Stars the following season, where he averaged 31.9 points per game.
The Lakers hoped Beasley would provide instant offense off the bench, but the journeyman ended up missing a large chunk of time as he spent time with his mother, Fatima, who was battling cancer. Fatima ended up passing away in late December.
Beasley is still just 29 years old, and still possess the ability to provide scoring and depth at the forward position off the bench. It will be interesting to see where he ends up after his third stint in China.
