Malik Beasley drawing strong overseas interest

Teams in Europe and China are showing strong interest in free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.

Those clubs have reached out to determine whether he’d be open to making the jump overseas.

Beasley entered this summer expecting a major NBA deal — he was in talks with Detroit on a three-year, $42 million contract — before word surfaced he was being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for potential illegal betting activity. That cooled everything.

He wasn’t named in the indictments that led to the arrests of Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier in October, but he hasn’t been cleared yet either. And the NBA is doing its own digging.

Beasley still prefers to return to the league. But Urbonas noted Chinese CBA clubs have made compelling pitches, offering money, flexibility and NBA-outs. The CBA season doesn’t begin until December 12, so he has time to weigh it.

If Beasley is cleared and wants back in, the Pistons and Cavaliers are among the teams believed to have interest.

He specifically stated that he wants to return to Detroit on several occasions, reiterating that desire on Monday, as we relayed here.