Malik Beasley’s free agency can finally get underway again.
As of this week, Beasley is no longer a target of a federal gambling investigation, according to his attorneys Steve Haney and Mike Schachter, who said as much to ESPN. This means Beasley should be free to resume his search for an NBA team to join – the Detroit Pistons had offered Beasley a three-year, $42 million deal, but pulled it mere days before free agency officially began after word of his being investigated came to light, and no other teams showed serious interest in Beasley from that point for the same reason.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York was investigating Beasley regarding gambling allegations tied to league games. The probe into Beasley came 14 months after the NBA banned Toronto’s Jontay Porter, who was linked to a prop bet investigation and eventually pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud. The investigation into Beasley began after a sportsbook recognized abnormal betting activity on prop bets focused on Beasley.
Nearly two months later, Beasley still had not been charged with anything, and no formal allegations were made: he was simply a person of interest in the federal investigation, but until said investigation was done, no one in the NBA was going to take any chances.
Haney remains upset about this series of events, telling the Athletic that “It’s just flat-out un-American to be deprived of the right to work based on a mere allegation. I don’t care if you are a pro basketball player or a plumber. That’s not the presumption of innocence and that’s unconstitutional.”
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The New York Knicks have reportedly already done their due diligence on background for Beasley, according to SNY. The Knicks can only offer the veteran minimum, however. What Beasley will ultimately sign for is unclear, given how late into the offseason it is and how set many teams’ rosters already are in terms of financials.
Beasley signed last year with the Pistons, taking a one-year contract for $6 million in the hopes of cashing in this summer as a free agent.
He made a single-season, franchise-record 319 3-pointers in the regular season. He helped Detroit make the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and end an NBA-record 15-game postseason losing streak in the first round against the New York Knicks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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