New York Knicks forward Michael Beasley is not short on confidence heading into his first season with the Knicks. The 28-year old forward, who is coming off a season with the Milwaukee Bucks where he averaged 9.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 56 games, still feels like he matches up with the best guys in the world.
Beasley was recently profiled by Bleacher Report's Yaron Weitzman, and the former #2 overall pick expressed supreme confidence, saying he matches up with Kevin Durant and LeBron James talent-wise.
Per Bleacher Report,
“[It’s] mostly perception. As far as talent-wise, I match up with Kevin [Durant], LeBron, I match up with the best guys in the world,” Beasley says. “I’m not being cocky; it’s just always how I felt. But I got into trouble as soon as I got into the NBA, and it left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”
The Knicks signed Beasley, a 6'9 southpaw, to a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum which will work out to approximately $2.1 million. In speaking about signing with the Knicks, Beasley told Weitzman that the team didn't bring up any of his off the court issues from his past.
"They didn't mention my past at all," Beasley says. "They didn't speak to me about money, about playing time, anything like that. All they said was that they wanted to give me an opportunity, and that's all I want."
"Everywhere I go, with teammates, on the phone with other teams, media, [my past] is all anybody wants to talk about," Beasley adds. "You’re asking me when I'm going to grow up and mature, it's like, 'Bro, when are you going to mature?' It's been like five or six years since I've been involved with anything off the court."
With Carmelo Anthony now in Oklahoma City, Beasley figures to play a bigger role for the Knicks who are looking to build around a young core consisting of Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, Tim Hardaway Jr, Enes Kanter and this year's 8th overall pick, 19-year old point guard Frank Ntilikina.