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Minnesota Timberwolves: Analyzing new players from Covington trade

By Andrew Ites

DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 20: Malik Beasley #25 of the Denver Nuggets brings the ball down the court against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter at the Pepsi Center on December 20, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 20: Malik Beasley #25 of the Denver Nuggets brings the ball down the court against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter at the Pepsi Center on December 20, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 21: Tyus Jones #1 of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends against Malik Beasley #25 of the Denver Nuggets during the game on November 21, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Malik Beasley

Malik Beasley has the most intriguing talent of the bunch of Nuggets who will be donning a Timberwolves uniform for the rest of the season.

The 23-year-old shooting guard out of Florida State had a career-year in 2018-19 where he dropped 11.3 points per game with 2.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.7 steals in 23.2 minutes per contest.

Beasley was an extremely efficient scorer for the second-seeded Nuggets with an impressive 59.9% true shooting percentage knocking down 40.2% of his five attempts per game from downtown.

Malik was able to be a solid contributor in the playoffs as well as he continued to hit threes at over a 40% clip.

That ability to space the floor helped him finish 20th in offensive real plus-minus among 102 shooting guards last season.

Beasley’s numbers have taken a dip this year as he’s receiving less consistent playing time with some of the new pieces the Nuggets are incorporating (Jerami Grant, Michael Porter Jr., etc.), but I’m still a big believer in his talent and he’ll instantly become the Wolves’ second-best outside shooter behind Karl-Anthony Towns.

There will be a market for Beasley this offseason, but having the ability to match any offer sheet that is given to him gives Minnesota a leg up on the rest of his potential suitors this summer.

Fortunately, there aren’t a teams with cap space this summer so that could help keep his price reasonable.

As long as the price doesn’t get insane, I’d love to see Beasley in a Wolves uniform for years to come.

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The final 30-plus games of the Timberwolves’ season will hopefully give the front office an idea of what each of these players can do and whether they should invest in them as they try to build a strong young core in Minnesota.

If things go relatively well for each of them, I could see at least two of these former Nuggets having an impact on the future of the Wolves’ franchise.

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