Minnesota Timberwolves: Beasley needs to stay in a Wolves uniform

Rather than burning assets on a “third star”, the Minnesota Timberwolves should instead ensure that they retain Malik Beasley.

Over the past few months, many Minnesota Timberwolves fans have been fantasizing about trading for players such as Phoenix’s Devin Booker or Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons.

But, trading for stars like Booker or Simmons comes at a high cost, to say the least. However, one player that the Timberwolves should not trade — and should be sure that they re-sign — is Malik Beasley.

Obviously, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are off the table in trade discussions, but we could also put Beasley in that mix of players to make nearly untouchable.

It is becoming more clear that Beasley may ask for a big contract this offseason, but the money he is asking for is money he deserves based on his performance for the Wolves this year. As a restricted free agent, it is important that the Wolves lock up Beasley this offseason.

Although Beasley hasn’t been in a Wolves uniform for long, he was so efficient and so impactful, it’s fair to say that he deserves the money.

Beasley averaged 20.7 points with the Wolves on 47 percent field goal percentage. He also averaged five rebounds in the 14 games with the Wolves and brought energy to a team that sorely needed it when he was traded to Minnesota earlier this year.

Depending on who the Wolves draft with the first pick this year, it’s easy to see Beasley keeping a starting role next season alongside Russell and Towns.

Moving on from Beasley wouldn’t be quite the same as when the Wolves traded away Zach LaVine in the Jimmy Butler deal, but we can draw similarities between the two. Just like LaVine, Beasley can be a third option on this team at a relatively low cost. Both are offensive-minded, dynamic in transition, and shooters with lightning-quick releases.

It would be fair to give the current team, including Beasley, a shot this upcoming season without bending over backward to try and acquire a third star.

The number of games that the current roster has played together is extremely limited; in fact, it was only one game with both Towns and Russell on the floor and two games with Towns and Beasley.

This core deserves a shot to play together longer, and the Wolves don’t need to burn through resources and assets to try and acquire another big-name player.