One of your Los Angeles Lakers’ trade deadline acquisitions from last season, Malik Beasley, has been scorching hot from three-point land for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Beasley is knocking down 47% of his 3-point shots, which is more in line with what he had been doing prior to arriving in Los Angeles, as opposed to once he began to don the purple and gold.
For context, he shot nearly or over 40% four times in his seven-year career prior to becoming a Laker, where he shot a mere 35% en route to playing just eight minutes per game in the postseason.
In a recent livestream chat with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Beasley offered up a a surprising revelation about his free agent decision making after his Lakers tenure last summer:
Beasley signed for the minimum with the Bucks, turning down more money from the Lakers and the Mavericks. This is surprising, as for a player who is yet to receive a big contract, offers little outside of his shooting, and is coming off of a bad year, one more bad performance could leave him with few options in the 2024 offseason.
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In spite of that, Beasley bet on himself, and is now performing at an elite level from behind the arc.
The theories that LA is “too much pressure,” for shooters has become truer and truer every season, as players like Beasley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (in the 2021 playoffs, although he had a great 2020 run with LA en route to a title), Wesley Matthews, and more, have all seen their shooting numbers fall off of a cliff in key moments as Lakers, but experienced significant positive regression after leaving.
That said, players like Taurean Prince, D’Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura have shot better in Los Angeles than elsewhere, so that theory remains unproven. Perhaps different players respond differently to that level of pressure
