Uh-oh… some discouraging news today from The Star Tribune:
Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley was cited for marijuana possession after being pulled over for speeding in Minnetonka, police said Wednesday.
The traffic stop occurred about 3 a.m. June 26 on Hwy. 12 near Carlson Parkway, said police Capt. Scott Boerboom. Beasley was driving 84 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone, Boerboom said.
Officers who stopped Beasley, 22, smelled marijuana in the car and found slightly more than a half-ounce in the vehicle, Boerboom said.
A police report said the marijuana was found under the front seat. Beasley said the marijuana belonged to a friend whom he had just dropped off, according to the report.
Beasley, who was not under the influence, was cited and released, the captain said. Beasley lives in Orono, west of where he was stopped.
Timberwolves team spokesman Mike Cristaldi said Wednesday that the team cannot comment about Beasley’s troubles because of “the current labor situation.” A management lockout has the league shut down.
In February, Beasley was cited in Hennepin County for driving 70 mph in a 55-mph zone. He paid a $117 fine in that case.
In July 2010, after Beasley’s trade to Minnesota from Miami, Timberwolves basketball boss David Kahn said in a radio interview that one of his new player’s problems in Florida was that he “smoked too much marijuana.” The NBA responded by fining Kahn and the team $50,000 each. The league called the comments “inappropriate.”
Kahn, also in the interview on 1500 ESPN, suggested that Beasley would be a changed man once he arrived in Minnesota.
“He’s a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana and has told me that he’s not smoking anymore,” Kahn said, “and I told him that I would trust him as long as that was the case.”
In August 2009, Yahoo! Sports reported that Beasley had checked into an unidentified Houston rehabilitation hospital.
In 2008, Beasley was chosen out of Kansas State second overall in the NBA draft by the Heat. Soon after, he was fined $50,000 by the NBA for being in a room where marijuana was found at a rookie symposium.
***
He wasn’t under the influence of anything, which is good. But overall though, it was 3AM and he was speeding with drugs in the car, so yeah… doesn’t bode well for his “maturity issues.” Ugh. I also wonder if this will change his role/place on the team going forward, especially now that we have Derrick Williams?
And just when you thought Beasley’s trade value couldn’t get any lower… 
Well we can’t trade him now after this (and drafting Derrick Williams.) We might as well keep him around and see what happens. Will this humble him enough to accept the role as a Super Duper 6th man? That would be ideal for everyone. And after this, at least it won’t cost us $8-$10 million per year to re-sign him (presumably.)
At least he is a good teammate, no one has ever said otherwise about that.
Come join us in the TWolves Blog Forums, where discussion about this (and much more) has been raging all day long.
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