Say this for Michael Beasley: He's well-accessorized.
The Wolves' new go-to scorer wears a headband, dreadlocks, tattoos that make his entire body look like a Ren & Stimpy cartoon, pads on his right elbow, ribs and tailbone, and white sleeves with shin pads on both calves.
He's one pad shy of looking like Reggie Wayne, and one tattoo shy of looking like Lil Wayne.
Beasley acts like a star, calling for the ball, waving off substitutions and preening after making shots. The problem on Wednesday night, as the Wolves opened their season with a 117-116 loss to Sacramento at Target Center, was that Beasley's act looked better than his actions.
Granted more minutes than anyone else on his team, and taking more shots than any of his teammates, he nevertheless disappeared for long stretches. And when your get-up screams "Look at me!" it's hard to disappear for long stretches.
In his Timberwolves debut, Beasley scored 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting and had seven rebounds, one assist and one turnover in 34 minutes. When he decided to attack the rim, he was effective. When he played passively, he reminded the sparse crowd why the Miami Heat made him available in a low-ball trade as soon as it became serious about winning a championship.
"He did OK," said Wolves coach Kurt Rambis, after losing to a bad team missing its best player, point guard Tyreke Evans. "Again, this is going to be a learning season for Mike. He's playing a position that is probably not his best position."
Beasley is a natural power forward. That's the position Kevin Love plays. I would have said that's the position Love, the Wolves' best player, occupies, but Rambis shot down that premise in his postgame news conference after Love played just three minutes in the fourth quarter of a close game.