Michael Beasley has got his groove back.
After several seasons of roaming from team to team, the former Miami Heat second overall selection in the 2008 draft is back in South Beach and perhaps back on track toward the kind of career that once seemed preordained for him.
Over his last 10 games, Beasley has averaged 10 points a game on 53.2 percent shooting in just 18 minutes. More importantly to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and company's bottom line, he's doing it all seamlessly, with an offensive rating of 109.2 (points per 100 possessions used) over the defending two time champ's current 10-game winning streak.
"With Michael, it was about initially we felt he was part of our family," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told ProBasketball.com of Beasley's quick readjustment to the Miama way of doing things. "We drafted him. We spent a lot of time with him, not only during those two regular seasons, but during the off seasons and we just wanted to open up our arms back into our family."
While away from Miami, Beasley struggled to adjust in Minnesota and Phoenix, being essentially bought out by the Suns after signing a three-year, $18 million contract and being arrested on drug possession charges.
"I didn't even talk role," Spoelstra said of his initial talks with Beasley about rejoining the Heat. " I didn't even talk specifics about anything. I didn't talk about, 'Hey, you're going to learn from these guys.' It was, 'Hey, come back to the family,' and just get back into the routine and we'll take it from there. After training camp, that's about the first time I really started to talk about a possible role with him."
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