Bucks acquire forward Michael Beasley in trade with Rockets

The Bucks have acquired forward Michael Beasley from the Houston Rockets for backup point guard Tyler Ennis in a deal that beefs up Milwaukee’s frontcourt depth.

The 6-foot-9 Beasley averaged 12.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in 20 games last season for Houston. He was playing in China before signing with the Rockets, where won his league’s foreign MVP award while playing for the Shandong Golden Stars.

“We’re excited to add a player with Michael’s skill set to our team,” General Manager John Hammond said. “He’s someone that we’ve kept our eye on the last few seasons and we’re looking forward to watching him compete throughout training camp and the season.”

The deal could signal that the Bucks intend to keep 6-foot-11 Giannis Antetokounmpo as a primary ball-handler, a position in which he thrived last season.

Michael Carter-Williams and Matthew Dellavedova can also play point guard.

Beasley, though, hasn’t been much of a three-point shooter in recent years. The Bucks won’t have guard Khris Middleton for about six months because of a torn left hamstring.

Beasley, 27, was the second overall pick by Miami in the 2008 NBA Draft out of Kansas State. He played seven seasons in the NBA, and spent some time in China before going to the Rockets.

He has averaged 13.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in his NBA career, which includes stints at Minnesota and Phoenix.

NBA to change data providers

The NBA will have a new distributor for its statistical information and its player tracking data starting in the 2017-18 season under a deal that will also spread real-time statistics to legal betting houses around the world.

The league announced deals with Sportradar and Second Spectrum on Thursday that it said will greatly expand the distribution of its statistics. Sportradar, a global company with domestic headquarters in Minneapolis, will distribute statistics for the NBA, WNBA and the D-League to people in more than 80 countries.

In addition, the NBA will switch from SportVU to Second Spectrum for player tracking information. Second Spectrum will spend this season installing tracking cameras in every arena in the league. It can provide highly detailed data on player movement, including how much ground they cover, where they touch the ball most and the ability to guard the pick-and-roll.

Etc.

NBA referees will be cracking down this season on the kind of hits to the groin area that resulted in Draymond Green’s suspension during the NBA Finals. They also will more closely monitor traveling after complaints from coaches that players are getting away with too many steps on the perimeter. The referees were informed and instructed about those items this week during their preseason meetings and training camp.