Malik Beasley expects to start in his first year with the Milwaukee Bucks. Here's what he's doing to make that happen.

Malik Beasley stopped in his tracks for a moment to look out over Lake Michigan, its dark blue waters and white crests popping against the light blue sky on the horizon line. It was a clear, warm fall day and from the top floor of his building the vista was simple, limitless.

He smiled and settled into an oversized orange chair; a neon green “Welcome to the good life” sign alit over his right shoulder.

“Lake Michigan right here is pretty lit,” he said, wistfully missing the opportunity to go fishing. “I’m a homebody, so I don’t really go out and do much. I like the cold. It’s weird. I like the cold, because I like wearing hoodies and sweatpants. I’m a hoodie type of guy.”

Beasley has, quickly, found an ease in Milwaukee off the court. On it, he joined a title favorite as is he is about to enter his eighth NBA season and will turn 27 years old just after Thanksgiving.

He’s in his prime years, but his deal was for one-year, $2.7 million. It is the veteran minimum, but Beasley feels the Bucks gave him a chance to secure long-term future in the league after the Los Angeles Lakers declined to pick up his $16.5 million option this summer.

“There’s definitely a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I was definitely undervalued but not only that, the market was horrible this year. Bruce Brown won a championship this year and he got only $30, or $40 (million) and he deserves a bigger bag than that. Kelly Oubre only signed one-year, average 20 (points) in the East. I mean, the market right now is not that good and I read into all that and I’m betting on myself like I did for my first contract. If things go as planned, and God forbid an injury or anything like that, I’ll just let the work do itself.”

First-year Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin said the open fifth starter spot will be a competition and Beasley has accepted that head on, but with a mindset he that he will earn it. Especially with the knowledge that he will have to earn it through his defensive effort.

Improving on defense will be a priority for Malik Beasley with Bucks

“I came here to also help my defense,” Beasley said matter-of-factly. “They make an impact on defense. Especially with (assistant) coach (Patrick) Mutombo, that’s his specialty. I heard coach (Adrian) Griffin, that’s what he likes, too. I want this to be a great year not just for me individually, but overall as a team and building my value more than just a three-point shooter.”

He understands everyone knows he can make threes, that he can score. His new teammates know that too. Jae Crowder said Beasley isn’t a player an opponent can leave to double team, “But his challenge is out here on the other end of the court.

“We gotta get him to take on challenges, be better,” Crowder added. “We know he can knock down shots, he’s going to do that for us, but this defense thing is a real thing for us and we have to do it collectively and guys gotta to take ownership and meet the challenge."

It’s a familiar topic of conversation around Beasley, who has been asked about his defense at nearly every stop along the way. And at each place, he’s shown enough on that end at times to warrant optimism.

A couple of small examples: In 55 games with the Jazz last season, Beasley was in the 34th percentile of defenders against pick-and-roll ball handlers, giving up 0.96 points per possession. In 26 games with the Lakers, Beasley improved to the 86th percentile as a defender in the same category, giving up 0.76 points per possession.

While with the Jazz, he allowed 1.31 points per possession as an isolation defender, which was one of the worst showings in the league. He didn’t qualify for the metric while with the Lakers (a minimum of 10 minutes per game and 10 possessions per play type) but in his last full season in Minnesota he allowed 0.79 points per possession as an isolated defender.

And after the Bucks’ first preseason game against Chicago in which Beasley was working against all-star guard Zach LaVine, Griffin said Beasley will draw the opposing team’s top perimeter player.

“I’m starting – I’m starting again – that’s my main focus,” Beasley said before training camp began. “And if coach needs me to come off the bench to make a better impact, then that’s where I’m at. I started in (Utah), I started in L.A. too but then Austin Reaves played better. That happens. I look to move forward from that, I look to get better from that, making an impact for my team straight from the jump.”

A lot of options, opportunities exist for Malik Beasley in Bucks' offense

The opportunity in front of him is impossible to miss, especially after the Bucks included Grayson Allen in the three-team trade that brought all-star point guard Damian Lillard to Milwaukee. Allen had started 131 games at shooting guard the past two seasons.

There is little pressure on Beasley offensively, especially if he’s paired up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Lillard. Allen quipped when he first started playing with the Bucks that Antetokounmpo’s gravity created shots that were so open it was almost unnerving.

Having made 38.9% of his threes from 2019-22 and averaged about 20 points per game over a 51-game stretch in Minnesota, Beasley smiled at the prospect – particularly if he’s screening for Antetokounmpo.

“They can’t guard it because what is the big gonna do?” Beasley asked. “Is he going to guard me now and a small is going to guard him? I slip out, get an open three or he’s going to get double-teamed and somebody else is going to be open. So there’s a lot of options out of that. That’s one of the main things I’m excited about.”

Malik Beasley focused on being a 'family man and learning from mistakes' after serving time in jail

Beasley is certain there is a lot in front of him, on and off the court, and it’s there for the taking this season. He believes he’s prepared to do so because of a personal peace he’s tried to establish the past few years.

During the COVID-19 stoppage in the NBA season in 2020, Beasley was arrested for a weapons offense and pled guilty to one felony count of threats of violence and served a 12-game suspension by the league. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail, of which he served 78 before being released in August 2021. After completing three years of probation, the charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Upon his release, he wrote on his Instagram that he wanted people to learn from him.

“It’s all been a growing process from all the stuff that’s happened off the court with me,” he said. “And then on the court, too. There’s a lot people can learn from me and I think that’s one of my purposes in life, is to learn. Of course, I hate to be the one that made the mistakes but life happens and, like I said, I’ve been more of a family man.

“My main thing is being a family man and learning from mistakes. I got a chance to get a $100-plus (million) again and I want to do right with that. I want to make sure that everybody’s set. I want to make sure that I have stocks overseas. It’s just all a learning process, man. Ain’t nobody perfect. I think people don’t realize even though we’re on a big stage every day, we come home to the same stuff no matter if I score 30 points or two points, my son is like ‘Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!’ People don’t understand that. There’s still life.”

Milwaukee is latest stop on Malik Beasley's NBA journey

He said learning to cope with that off-court upheaval helped him navigate a more tumultuous professional path that has led him to Milwaukee.

After playing 79 games for the Timberwolves in the 2021-22 season, Beasley was traded to Utah as part of the massive deal that sent three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert to Minnesota. After 55 games with the Jazz last year, Beasley was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers and played 26 regular-season and 17 playoff games as they advanced to the Western Conference finals.Beasley volleyed between the bench and the starting lineup on all three teams, and his three-point shooting declined each season. After the Lakers didn’t pick up his option, he suddenly seemed so far removed from the player who signed a four-year, $60 million extension with the Timberwolves before the 2020-21 season.

Beasley said he learned through all those stops.

He has regularly met with a therapist and is more open to leaning on friends in the league who have young families to help him navigate his time. It’s all a process.

Another small example. He looked back on his short time in Los Angeles last year and realized he picked the wrong place to live after the trade, and his physical distance from the Lakers’ practice facility hindered his performance. Which is why upon moving to Milwaukee, he found a place where he could get to, and from, the Sports Science Center with ease.

“Personally I feel like; the No. 1 critic of myself is me, so I feel like I could’ve had some better seasons,” he said. “I feel like I could’ve played better. Maybe that’s every player that feels like that.

“Overall, I feel like I’ve gotten better in the sense of where I was in Minnesota and where I was in Utah, I started to get in a great, great rhythm and then the trade happens and then you think about damn, Utah didn’t want me and then the Lakers didn’t sign me and you start to think about stuff. But, like I said, I put in way too much work not to be where I’m at. I believe in that and that’s why I continue to say this is going to be a great year. I think that all the hard work all these four years, ups and downs, is going to go gradually up.”

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It’s a contract season for Beasley, one where the Bucks – and others – will judge how he marries together this opportunity with a greater defensive responsibility. He knows this. He believes he’s ready to make the most of it.

“If I put in the work every single day, if I look in the mirror and say, ‘Did I give my full effort for my team and myself?’ And then I shoot 2-for-11, so what?” he said. “It sucks that the media might hype it up but so what, man. It happens.

“It’s not easy. I see what people say in the comments, but I don’t see it. I hear what people are saying, but I’m not paying attention to that. Whatever doesn’t affect my life, whatever doesn’t affect my family, it’s nothing to worry about. Everybody has their opinion and I can’t get mad at that. It takes time (to learn). I wanted to change everything up. I wanted my focus to be fully on this year, on winning and making shots – and defending.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks guard Malik Beasley motivated in first year with team