Former Florida State Seminole Malik Beasley is set to meet with the Orlando Magic. Beasley exploded onto the scene in 2015 and has shot up teams draft boards.
According to Alex Kennedy of BasketballInsiders.com, Florida State guard Malik Beasley is scheduled to meet with the Orlando Magic. Kennedy also reported Beasley will not be working out for any teams prior to the draft.
Beasley had stress fracture surgery following the end of the 2015 season. Beasley has gotten the green-light to workout, but he has decided against it.
One lottery team that is meeting with Malik Beasley is the Orlando Magic on the 12th, per sources.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 9, 2016
Malik Beasley will visit lottery teams, but will not participate on court as he's believed to have mid-first floor. https://t.co/LER1JhDrPB
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 9, 2016
Currently, the Orlando Magic hold the 11th pick in the draft and could go in Beasley’s direction.
According to Kennedy, he is projected to be taken in the middle of the first round. At number 11, it may be a reach for the Magic to select Beasley. On the other hand, the Magic also could trade down in the draft and still select Beasley.
At the beginning of last season, there was no noise surrounding Beasely. No one saw him declaring for the NBA draft after only one season. After a hot start, Beasley forced his way into the picture and has garnered interest from many NBA teams.
Beasley played shooting guard in his lone season at Florida State. He demonstrated an ability to run the floor and score in transition as well as showing off a solid shooting stroke from the outside.
Beasley is a quick guard who would provide Orlando with consistency and efficiency. Averaging more than 15 points per game last season, Beasley tallied double-digit points in every game. The Magic are desperate for a go-to scorer and Beasley could be the answer down the road.
Defensively, Beasley has the athleticism to stay in front of most NBA guards, but he does lack size. A bigger guard may be able to bully him at times. He brings a hard-nosed style of play with him and that is something the Magic could use on both sides of the floor.
The Magic currently have a few options at the two-guard spot with Victor Oladipo and Mario Hezonja slotted to take the bulk of the minutes and Evan Fournier hanging around as a restricted free agent. However, the Magic could see Beasley as a scoring spark off the bench.
DraftExpress currently has Beasley slotted as the 32nd pick in the Draft. NBADraft.net has him going 19th. Kennedy in his latest mock draft for Basketball Insiders has Beasley going 25th. It is not likely Beasley would last to 41 in the second round where the Magic are picking and no one has him going as high as 11th.
But as the draft closes in, Orlando has added Beasley to its list of options on draft night.