Malik Beasley Should Help Bucks’ Three-Point Shooting

In July, the Milwaukee Bucks signed free agent wing Malik Beasley to a one-year deal worth $2.7 million. More than likely, Beasley and his team agreed to such terms under the idea that Beasley will rehab his own market this season, for the chance of his value increasing next summer.

It’s not a bad plan.

Beasley joins a Bucks team as a dynamic spot-up shooter, who will act as a frequent passing target for Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek forward is one of the most dominant interior scorers in the NBA, and routinely finds himself double-teamed or pressured by larger defenders.

While players such as Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez have done fairly well acting as floor spacers in those situations, the Bucks have needed a guy with tunnel vision. Beasley have spent the last two seasons leaning into his evolution of becoming a specialty player, as 72.5% of his total shot attempts have come from behind the three-point line.

As a result, Beasley has canned a whopping 475 triples in that span. His efficiency of 36.7% in those years from behind the arc could afford to get boosted, and as such, putting himself in a situation where he’ll benefit from the defensive attention devoted to Antetokounmpo presents an opportunity for him to do just that.

Last season, roughly 25% of Beasley’s three-point attempts were considered tightly guarded, with a defender within 2-4 feet of a shot attempt. It stands to reason that Beasley should see that percentage drop in Milwaukee, due to quality of the roster, and him being one of the last options when sharing the court with most of the starting unit.

Some will point to Beasley’s lack of efficiency last season, even when wide open, where he hit just over 36% of his shots. However, going back another season, to 2021-2022, Beasley connected on 39.3% on open three-pointers, and 41.2% on wide open shots.

The Bucks are clearly hoping that Beasley’s 2022-2023 campaign was just a bad shooting year, and not the beginning of a new norm. Fortunately for the Bucks, Beasley’s shooting history indicates they have reason for their optimism.

In the four seasons prior to the 2022-2023 campaign, Beasley connected on 38.9% of his three-pointers, on 6.5 attempts per night. That’s a sample size of 1,639 three-point attempts, which represents significant data.

In those four seasons, Beasley also connected on 43.1% of his corner three-point shots, which made up just over a quarter of his total shots from range. Last season, he took just 16.7% of his three-pointers from the corners, and converted on just 37.3%.

It would almost be surprising if Beasley isn’t to have a bounce-back year, particularly if he is to return more to the corners, and with less guarded shots coming his way.

While we all still need to see it in action, signing with the Bucks looks like the right play for the former first-round pick.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.