I mean, he was a "surefire hall of famer" at least partly due to the overvaluing of PPG; and partly due to the fact that he landed in two stable situations where he was allowed/encouraged to gobble up touches and usage, and launch shots pretty much to his heart's content. He's always been rather Beasley-esque in terms of actually playing winning basketball (playing unselfishly, scoring efficiently, playing both ends of the floor, e.g.) By adjusted plus-minus measures, I'm pretty sure he's never ranked as a top 15 player in any given season. At his peak, I suspect he was a bit better than Beasley is now, but his current contract seemed obviously terrible at the time he signed it (to me, anyway).
Given the similarity of their games and where they were picked, it is interesting (to me) to ponder how differently their careers might have gone had their circumstances been slightly different. I'm sure Beasley's own knuckle-headedness has contributed to his underperformance, but I'd guess there are other factors, too (KState didn't win him an instant sports media fanbase the way NYC/ Syracuse did for 'Melo; his teams may have had inadequate coaching and/or veteran player mentorship, etc.)
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see where Beasley lands, and if he's managed to salvage his reputation enough to gets anything more than a minimum contract. He is BFFs with KD from childhood in Maryland; I won't be shocked if KD puts in a good word to Myers about him as a potential Swaggy/Casspi replacement on a vet min deal.
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