The Denver Nuggets selected Florida State guard Malik Beasley with the 19th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. Beasley is a freak athlete that posses a tremendous amount of upside for the Nuggets.
“Nineteen was fascinating,” Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly said following the draft. “The board was pretty crowded, we liked a lot of guys, we thought Malik just had too much talent to pass up.”
Beasley is a high-flying guard that has the ability to knock down the three and finish at the hoop with style.
Check out some of his best moments from his lone season at FSU:
If that doesn’t get Nuggets fans excited, then I don’t know what will.
Beasley’s tenacious approach to the rim is something that isn’t seen much in today’s NBA outside of star players. Also, his knack for hitting the three-point shot will prove to be a valuable commodity for a Nuggets team that struggled behind the arc last season.
Beasley is a top-10 talent that slid in the draft due to injury; however, Connelly and Co said that did not sway their decision.
“We had him graded out as a lottery pick,” Connelly said. “You got to take risks sometimes to get talent like that. We were surprised pleasantly that he was there … We are pretty fired up to have him.”
Connelly went on to further say that the team will not rush Malik into the league, opting to use him in more situational roles to let him grow and develop at a steady pace.
That’s the right thing for the Nuggets to do since they are more than two-deep at the shooting guard position.
The Nuggs need the punch off the bench to help give the team some life, and that is exactly what Beasley can do.
In all honesty, the Nuggets haven’t had a guy like that since the days of NBA-champion and shirtless-wonder JR Smith.
Smith was able to come into games, knock down threes and carry the offense for bursts at a time while the big guns like Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups refueled.
This is exactly the type of player Beasley can become.
If the shooting game keeps improving and his drive to get to the basket remains intact, the Nuggets could have the steal of the draft on their hands.
Like Connelly said, “You got to take risk’s to get talent like that,” and that is exactly what the Nuggets did.
Only time will tell if it will pay off.