The Cavaliers are among the teams that have checked in on free agent wing Malik Beasley, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
The Knicks are another team interested in Beasley, Scotto adds. Multiple reporters have stated that New York has been monitoring Beasley’s situation.
Beasley is no longer a target of the federal gambling investigation being conducted by the Eastern District of New York, his lawyers recently told Shams Charania of ESPN.
However, as Michael McCann of Sportico details, just because Beasley is no longer considered a “target” of the federal investigation doesn’t necessarily mean he’s fully in the clear. It’s possible he still may still be a “subject” of the investigation, which has a different legal meaning with the Department of Justice.
And even if the 28-year-old is cleared of any type of criminal wrongdoing, that doesn’t necessarily mean he has not broken any NBA rules, McCann writes. The league will have to determine independently whether or not Beasley broke any “contractual, labor and employment obligations.”
The 6’4″ shooting guard is coming off a strong season in Detroit in which he was the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up after averaging 16.3 points per game while shooting a career-high 41.6% from long distance and ranking second in the NBA in three-pointers made (319).
Scotto points out that Knicks senior vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas signed Beasley to a lucrative contract while he was running Minnesota’s front office in 2020. Both the Cavaliers and the Knicks have open standard roster spots, but they can only offer Beasley a minimum-salary deal, Scotto notes.