Nets' Michael Beasley Reportedly Leaves NBA Bubble at Disney World

The Brooklyn Nets signed Michael Beasley on July 9, but it's unclear if the veteran forward will remain with the team.  

According to Malika Andrews and Tim Bontemps of ESPN, Beasley has left the NBA's bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando and it is unknown if he will return.

Beasley, 31, last played in the 2018-19 season for the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging seven points and 2.3 rebounds across 26 games. 

He was one of Brooklyn's additions to a roster that has been decimated by injuries and positive COVID-19 tests. Both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant are being held out as they recover from injuries, while Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince all tested positive for coronavirus and opted out of the league's restart.

The team also signed veteran guards Tyler Johnson and Jamal Crawford, forward Lance Thomas and center Donta Hall. 

"We need to get these guys in front of our coaching staff and in front of each other," general manager Sean Marks said last week, per Andrews and Bontemps. "Somebody joked today [that] we were going to have to have them wearing name tags because it is a new roster."

There was some speculation that Beasley was added due to his friendship with Durant, but Marks shot that notion down. 

"I don't think that's fair to call Kevin on every single scenario we do," he told reporters. "It's probably well-documented over the course of the last few years that [Durant and Beasley] are pretty close. But that wasn't a factor in this; we're looking at who is available and the talent, and Mike certainly is that."

The patchwork Nets are fighting for a playoff spot and currently sit in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of the Orlando Magic and six games ahead of the Washington Wizards. If they fall to the eighth seed and are four games or fewer ahead of the ninth seed, they'll be forced into a play-in scenario to qualify for the postseason. 

Given the talent they'll be without, that makes the Nets a contender to drop out of the postseason entirely. Beasley in particular would have provided a solid scoring option off the bench, but his participation in the restart is now reportedly up in the air.