Former Timberwolves general manager David Kahn will vouch for two things regarding Michael Beasley — he will light up the Garden as “an incredibly gifted natural scorer’’ and Knicks assistant coach Kurt Rambis is a huge fan.
Beasley is in Tarrytown, reporting for Knicks’ voluntary workouts ahead of training camp, which opens Monday. Potentially serving as Carmelo Anthony’s eventual replacement, Beasley signed a one-year deal for the $2.1 million veteran’s minimum last month.
In 2010, Kahn traded for Beasley and has no regrets. Kahn, who teaches sports management courses at NYU, obtained Beasley, the second overall pick of the 2008 draft, after two seasons with the Heat.
Kahn gave up two second-round picks and cash, then created waves when he said in a mostly misinterpreted radio interview that Beasley was “a very young and immature kid who smoked too much marijuana.’’
As it turned out, marijuana was not an issue in Beasley’s two seasons in Minnesota. Failure to grasp defensive concepts was the problem that led to their divorce.
“Michael’s issue then from a basketball standpoint wasn’t on the offensive end,’’ Kahn told The Post in a phone interview. “Michael had a hard time on the defensive end. I think that wasn’t so much about Michael as the fact most of his basketball training was in the AAU system, (then) a brief time in college. My sense at the time was he didn’t play as much in Miami as he had hoped because of the challenges he faced defensively.
“Offensively, he’s an incredibly gifted natural scorer. There isn’t any part of his game offensively he can’t do — shoot with range, drive, finish. He’s really smooth.’’
Rambis, Jeff Hornacek’s top assistant, had Beasley one season as Timberwolves head coach. Beasley told The Post recently Rambis initiated the Knicks’ bid, phoning him to gauge his interest in New York. When they were together in Minnesota, Rambis couldn’t get Beasley to play defense.
“It wasn’t necessarily one-on-one defense,’’ Kahn said. “So much of the NBA is defensive scheme, knowing where the ball is on the court, how a team plays its pick-and-roll. It’s not as simple as it looks and for Michael, it was the only hard part of the game. I don’t know the strides [Beasley’s made] since, but back then that was it.’’
Scouts told The Post that Beasley’s defensive improvement has been limited, as the Bucks made no move to re-sign him. Meanwhile, the Steve Mills/Scott Perry Knicks were gung-ho about the former Kansas State star.
“If he’s being brought in to provide some offense if and when Carmelo leaves, you’ll have that (quality) because he can definitely do that,’’ Kahn said. “He can score. Kurt wanted the [Minnesota] deal badly. We needed scoring.
“I remember at the voluntary workouts before that season, Kurt being very excited at positions he could put him on the floor to score. His ability to score is undeniable with his terrific lateral movement and explosiveness. If they’re going to lose Carmelo, I imagine Kurt gave him a very positive review as a guy who can figure out how to get his shot up.’’
After drafting Derrick Williams No. 2 in the draft and having other needs, the Timberwolves let Beasley sign with the Suns for three years, $18 million.
Kahn said his old marijuana interview became miscast as he was responding to a question on whether Beasley’s off-court issues are even worse than advertised. The gist of Kahn’s comments dispelled the theory.
“We had other needs to allocate our resources,’’ Kahn said on why he didn’t re-sign him. “It wasn’t ‘Thank God’ Michael is leaving. He’s a sweet guy with a big heart. His teammates like him. He was very popular in the locker room.’’