Michael Beasley was back at the Knicks training facility in Tarrytown last week reuniting with David Fizdale.
Beasley had two stints in Miami with the new Knicks coach — from 2008-10 and 2013-15. Fizdale was a Miami assistant then.
“He likes him a lot,’’ said a source close to Beasley.
Whether the 6-foot-9 Beasley gets to play for Fizdale is up in the air. The 29-year-old forward becomes a free agent July 1 and is coming off a statistically heady 2017-18 campaign.
According to an NBA source, the Hawks and Suns have interest in Beasley and both clubs have cap space. Beasley has a home in Atlanta and is said to be intrigued.
The Suns are looking for bench scoring and a veteran to help their young core. Beasley played in Phoenix once before — in 2012-13 — and didn’t fare well on or off the court as he was released after a marijuana-possession arrest.
Those concerns are in the past. At least five teams are expected to vie for Beasley, who made his enigmatic reputation disappear as a Garden favorite when he played for the veteran’s minimum ($2.3 million) last season.
Golden State’s Kevin Durant expressed interest in playing with Beasley in January (they are friends from Maryland) but he would have to accept their taxpayer midlevel exception of $4.6 million.
Knicks brass want Beasley to re-sign but will have to use either all or a portion of their $8.6 million midlevel exception. Beasley started at power forward after Kristaps Porzingis tore his ACL in early February, and the 7-foot-3 Latvian’s return is a giant mystery. At best, Porzingis will be back by Christmas — if at all — leaving the starting power-forward position wide open.
Beasley is the prototype combo forward the Knicks seek in the draft. The team brass is hesitant, however, to use all of its midlevel exception on just one player.
Even though the Hawks and Suns could outbid the Knicks, an NBA source believes if the Knicks offer Beasley their entire $8.6 million — even on a one-year deal — it may be satisfactory. The Knicks want to refrain from giving out long-term deals that would reduce their cap space in 2019 or 2020.
“He definitely wants to come back to New York and play for Fizdale,’’ the source close to Beasley said. “Fizdale is another plus. But it’s still a business.’’
In one of the season’s rare victories, Beasley made his 10th season his best one, living up to his self-proclaimed nickname “Walking Bucket.’’ The lefty quote machine averaged 13.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 22 minutes per game. He shot 50.7 percent shooting — 39.5 from 3-point range.
Beasley’s per-36-minute averages are outstanding — 21 points, 9.0 rebounds. Beasley underwent a brief slump out of the All-Star break during which he blamed teammates for not moving the ball, but he finished strong.
There also is a scenario the Knicks will have cap space if Enes Kanter and Kyle O’Quinn each opt out, removing their mid-level exception.
In his last comments on his free-agent future, Beasley said in April: “Hopefully, [but] it’s not up to me. Ultimately it’s not. It’s not up to me. We’ll see what’s going on this summer and go from there. I would love to be back definitely. A lot goes into that. We’ll assess the situation in summertime.”