It would appear so, assuming this Nets Daily report is true.
Jason Smith of ESPN Radio’s “NBA Today” podcast reports that an NBA general manager told him the Heat offered Michael Beasley to the Nets for Keyon Dooling and “Rod Thorn turned them down”. Smith described Thorn’s decision as yet another indication of how badly the Heat want to get rid of Beasley.
While the deal certainly would have reduced the Nets’ cap space (by about $4.5 million). The Nets are on the hook for about $20 million heading into free agency, so they theoretically have about $36 million that they could spend. If they struck this deal, that number would have dropped to about $31.5 million, which would make it a little bit tougher to squeeze two “max” free agents under the cap.
The Nets may wait to see how free agency goes before acquiring Beasley, but another team might step in and take him off the Heat’s hands. Miami wants to move him so they can create enough cap space to sign two max free agents plus re-sign Dwyane Wade.
As for Beasley, he averaged 15-6 in about 30 minutes a game. His PER (16.16) was above average, even if it dropped from his rookie season (17.28). I’m surprised to see that his stock is so low that the Heat can’t even seem to give him away.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
