Michael Beasley, Milwaukee Bucks (Unrestricted Free Agent)
Current Salary: $1.4M
Age: 28
Last year at this time, no one thought that Evan Turner – a former No. 2 overall pick who any team could have had for virtually nothing – would parlay a nice bounce-back season in Boston into a four-year, $72 million deal with the Blazers. Thankfully for him, Paul Allen is not what you would call a frugal owner.
There won’t be quite that level of disregard for financial integrity this summer, but teams are more willing to take chances when the player is a former high lottery pick. Enter another disappointing former No. 2 overall selection who had to go all the way to China to resurrect his basketball career.
As Zach Lowe detailed when he named him to his 2016-17 Luke Walton All-Stars, Beasley seems to have turned over a new leaf and has become a model teammate. More importantly, he’s still just 28 years old and can easily toggle between both forward spots. Before he hyper-extended his left knee in late February, Beasley had been averaging 16 points per game following Jabari Parker‘s season-ending injury.
He won’t end up with Evan Turner money, but an annual salary in the $10-12 million range isn’t out of the question.