National Basketball Association

NBA Trade Grades: Milwaukee Bucks Deal For Michael Beasley

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:12 p.m. ET

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Less than a week before training camp, the Milwaukee Bucks traded Tyler Ennis to the Houston Rockets for Michael Beasley. Here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides.

Mar 31, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Michael Beasley (8) shoots the ball during the second quarter against the Chicago Bulls at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

With shooting guard Khris Middleton needing surgery on a torn hamstring that will keep him out for approximately six months, the Milwaukee Bucks were searching for answers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker still represent a bright future for this franchise, but the Bucks didn’t spend money on free agents like Greg Monroe, Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic over the past few summers for another sub-.500 season.

As first reported by The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks have found a temporary stop-gap on the wing by trading for Michael Beasley. The Houston Rockets will receive third string point guard Tyler Ennis in the deal.

Were the Bucks wise to trade for a player with a reputation like Beasley? Could the Rockets have gotten more than just a third string point guard? Here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides.

Apr 13, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Michael Beasley (8) dunks against the Sacramento Kings in the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Milwaukee Bucks

With Middleton sidelined, Milwaukee was going to sorely miss his contributions on both ends of the floor. After averaging 18.2 points, 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game last season, the 25-year-old shooting guard was intrinsic to the Bucks’ success, limited though it may have been.

Now that he’s out for around six months, the Bucks needed a temporary replacement for the majority of the 2016-17 season. They were severely lacking scoring from the wing, three-point shooting (Middleton shot 39.6 percent last year), and perimeter defense.

Enter Beasley, who doesn’t really address any of those needs with the exception of putting up plenty of shots in a hurry.

Of players to average more than 15 minutes per game, Beasley shot the 4th most shots per 100 possessions in 2016 https://t.co/iJ7BVqwxPM

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) September 22, 2016

After spending time in China putting up gaudy numbers, Beasley came on strong for the Houston Rockets near the end of the 2015-16 season. In his 20 games there, he averaged 12.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in just 18.2 minutes per game, shooting 52.2 percent from the floor.

The former No. 2 overall pick has been unable to find a lasting home in the NBA, but there’s no denying that he can get buckets when he gets in a rhythm.

His defense, however, is miserable, and his lack of discipline and effort on that end have long been among the greater flaws in his game. With Milwaukee trying to get back to its roots as the NBA’s second ranked defense from 2014-15, Beasley will hardly be able to help there.

Beasley can be a black hole on offense, but he was efficient enough in that limited 20-game sample size in Houston. He can’t be expected to spread the floor, however, as he shot just 33.3 percent from deep last year and is a 34.3 percent shooter from long range for his career.

Let’s just say that keeping him and his jump shot away from impressionable youngsters like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker might be a good idea.

The Bucks were never going to find a quality replacement for Middleton this late in the summer, especially without being willing to trade something of value. Getting healthy is still the focus for Middleton and Milwaukee, since Beasley is a major downgrade in pretty much every category.

However, all Milwaukee had to give up was Ennis, a seldom-used third string point guard who averaged 4.5 points and 2.1 assists in 14.2 minutes per game last season. He only appeared in 46 games for the Bucks and with Dellavedova coming on, the 22-year-old Ennis became deadweight.

Beasley has one year remaining on his contract and he’ll only be paid $1.4 million this season. As laughable as it is that the Bucks might be replacing Khris Middleton with Michael Beasley, Matthew Dellavedova or Malcom Brogdon on opening night, this trade really doesn’t hurt the Bucks either.

Grade: B-

Mar 21, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Tyler Ennis (11) looks for an open man during the second quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Houston Rockets

For the Houston Rockets, this deal was partially about getting Michael Beasley off the books. He played well enough in a bench role as the team’s designated scorer off the pine, but he was really only there to fill a need at power forward with Donatas Motiejunas hurt.

Getting the remaining $1.4 million of Beasley’s contracts off the books hardly clears out any significant cap space, especially since Ennis will actually be paid more this season, but this could be an “addition by subtraction” kind of move.

It’s not that Beasley was bad during his limited time with the Rockets, or that he had a negative impact on the locker room. But with a surly leader like James Harden and a locker room desperately trying to build chemistry, having a guy like Beasley around might not have been conducive to forward progress.

Parting with another player who could log minutes at the power forward position seems like a bad idea for a Rockets squad that only has Ryan Anderson (a sixth man) and Montrezl Harrell (a second-year 4) as players who can log minutes at power forward.

However, even if Josh Smith won’t be coming back, this trade could indicate some optimism on the Donatas Motiejunas front. A restricted free agent, D-Mo and the Rockets have been unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension, with training camp just days away. Perhaps now that Beasley is gone and the need is dire, the two sides will reach a common ground.

Houston’s return in the trade, Tyler Ennis, likely won’t have much of an impact. With the way his career has gone in his first two NBA seasons, you might even go as far as thinking he might be waives, since he’s owed $1.7 million this season ($0.3 million more than Beasley) with a $2.7 million team option for 2017-18.

However, since the Rockets only have Patrick Beverley and Pablo Prigioni at the point guard position, Ennis should stick on the roster through training camp to provide Houston with emergency depth in the backcourt.

Ennis is still only 22 years old, and though he’s shown zero signs of being a legitimate NBA player so far, the Rockets could use him in a pinch if training camp invites like Gary Payton II and Isaiah Taylor don’t work out.

Grade: B-