Malik Beasley is no longer a target of the federal gambling investigation conducted by the Eastern District of New York, his attorneys Steve Haney and Mike Schachter told ESPN on Friday, potentially reopening free agency for one of the NBA’s top shooters.
Haney and Schachter told ESPN that they had extensive conversations and meetings with the Eastern District of New York and received determination on Beasley not being considered the target after allegations regarding gambling on NBA games and prop bets during the 2023-24 season.
“Months after this investigation commenced, Malik remains uncharged and is not the target of this investigation,” Haney told ESPN. “An allegation with no charge, indictment or conviction should never have the catastrophic consequence this has caused Malik. This has literally been the opposite of the presumption of innocence.”
A spokesperson for the US. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment on the matter on Friday.
ESPN reported on June 29 that Beasley was under a federal investigation — which resulted in all of his free agent negotiations and offers being halted one day before the official start of free agency. At the time, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said: “We are cooperating with the federal prosecutors’ investigation.”
Sources said that Beasley and the Detroit Pistons were set to complete a three-year, $42 million contract to bring the 28-year-old guard back, but that proposal evaporated after the franchise became aware of the federal investigation and other interested teams paused conversations with Beasley as well, sources said.
Several teams have maintained contact with Beasley’s representation during the past few weeks about his status, sources said.
Beasley, who finished second in Sixth man of the Year award last season, averaged 16.3 points while appearing in all 82 games last season, his first season with the Pistons over a nine-year NBA career. Beasley made 319 3-pointers, the most in a season in Pistons franchise history and the second most in the NBA behind Minnesota Timberwolves All-NBA star Anthony Edwards. Beasley also ranked second in total points and total made 3-pointers off the bench, and made 248 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, the most by any player in a season since player tracking began in 2013-14, according to GeniusIQ.
Beasley signed a one-year contract with the Pistons in the 2024 offseason. As a result of Detroit signing Caris LeVert to the full mid-level exception, the maximum Beasley can re-sign with the Pistons for is $7.2 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. In the absence of Beasley, Detroit signed LeVert, Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green to shore up their wing and guard corps.
Teams that have an exception to sign Beasley to a contract greater than $7.2 million include the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards. The Brooklyn Nets also have cap space in excess of more than $20 million.
During the 2023-24 season on which the allegations centered, Beasley averaged 11.3 points in 79 games for the Milwaukee Bucks and made a career-high 77 starts.
At least one prominent U.S. sportsbook detected unusually heavy betting interest on Beasley’s statistics beginning around Jan. 2024, a gambling industry source told ESPN’s David Purdum. A gambling industry source pointed to a game between the Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 31, 2024. The odds on Beasley recording fewer than 2.5 rebounds moved significantly at sportsbooks before the game, shortening from around +120 to around -250 due to a surge of action on the under. Beasley finished with six rebounds, and the bets that were deemed unusual lost.
Last year, former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter was banned by the NBA after a league investigation found Porter disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games. Earlier this year, it was announced that Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was under federal investigation for activity related to unusual betting patterns surrounding him in a March 2023 game when he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier has not been charged with any crime, nor has he faced any sanction from the NBA, and his attorney, Jim Trusty, told Purdum that his client is not a target of the investigation.
The National Basketball Players Association reiterated Friday that there has been no evidence of more of an issue with gambling in the league outside Porter.
“NBA players compete at the highest level with the utmost integrity and are concerned that prop bets have become an increasingly alarming source of player harassment, both online and in person,” an NBPA spokesperson said. “If tighter regulations can help minimize that abuse, then we support taking a closer look at them.”
In 2020, when Beasley played for the Timberwolves, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of threats of violence and was sentenced to 120 days in jail, which he served after the 2020-21 season. He also was suspended for 12 games by the NBA in 2021 as a result of the guilty plea.
Source link
