Michael Beasley Signs Contract with Knicks

The New York Knicks and veteran forward Michael Beasley agreed to a deal Tuesday, the team announced.

Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders first reported it will be a one-year agreement.

Beasley is coming off a solid campaign as an option off the bench for the Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged 9.4 points and 3.4 rebounds while playing 16.7 minutes per contest. He also rated ninth among qualified small forwards with a 17.91 player efficiency rating, per ESPN.com.

The Bucks highlighted some of his best moments from the 2016-17 campaign:

Along with his on-court production, the 28-year-old Kansas State product embraced his role as a mentor to Milwaukee's budding frontcourt.

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel passed along comments Beasley made about working with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker to help make them more complete players.

"The biggest thing for them is playing with a live dribble," Beasley said in January. "That's one thing I'm trying to put in Giannis' head and Jabari's, everybody really. If we play with a live dribble, we give ourselves more options, and we can see the floor a lot better."

Beasley has traveled a long road that includes stints with the Shanghai Sharks and Shandong Golden Stars in the Chinese Basketball Association since the Miami Heat selected him with the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft.

Although he's never lived up to that high billing, he's emerged as a useful reserve capable of providing valuable per-minute numbers off the bench. His willingness to take on that role has helped make it a smooth transition, and his time with the Bucks showed he's capable of producing at a high level when placed in the right system.

Look for him to serve as depth as small forward behind Carmelo Anthony with New York, though his usage and overall impact would jump significantly if the Knicks deal Melo before the 2017-18 campaign gets underway in October or at some time ahead of next season's trade deadline.