Since Cade Cunningham was drafted in 2021, Detroit Pistons fans have been asking for a supporting cast that can give him enough room to improve his efficiency and make life easier for him around the rim. Malik Beasley signed a one-year $6 million contract this offseason to do exactly that.
After spending the previous year in Milwaukee, Beasley will now play for the city where his mom spent her childhood. For the Bucks, Malik started in 77 games as the shooting guard next to Damian Lillard and shot over 41% from three on seven attempts per game. Can he have that same production in Detroit this season?
Offense
Malik Beasley shoots threes — a lot of them. Malik Beasley makes threes — a lot of them.
Last year with Milwaukee, Beasley attempted 542 threes. There have been only two Pistons to shoot more than 500 threes in the past five seasons. Saddiq Bey shot 610 threes in 2021 when Cade was a rookie, and Blake Griffin shot 522 threes in 2018 when he carried Detroit to its last playoff appearance. No player has surpassed 375 attempted threes the past two seasons. That is due to a damnable combination of ineptitude and poor health.
Maybe looking at total numbers isn’t the best metric because of injuries, trades, etc., but I think players who have their own gravity behind the three-point line are the players who provide spacing for the offense. For example, while we already know that Malik attempted 542 threes, he had a total of 722 field goal attempts – that means 75% of his shots are threes. Defenders are much less likely to help off of players like Beasley, whose attempts mostly come from behind the long line.
To provide context to that 75%, let’s look at Detroit’s top-10 players who played the most minutes last year and compare what percentage of their shots were threes (3PA/FGA):
- Jaden Ivey – 369/973 = 38%
- Cade Cunningham – 335/1167 = 29%
- Jalen Duren – 4/564 = 1%
- Ausar Thompson – 113/480 = 24%
- Isaiah Stewart – 175/382 = 46%
- Marcus Sasser – 240/512 = 47%
- James Wiseman – 2/305 = 1%
- Killian Hayes – 74/283 = 26%
- Bojan Bogdanovic – 207/425 = 49%
- Alec Burks – 247/406 = 61%
Let’s also compare this with the 2018 Blake Griffin and 2021 Saddiq Bey seasons from above – and for what it’s worth, they both led their respective teams in FGAs:
- Saddiq Bey – 610/1136 = 54%
- Blake Griffin – 522/1341 = 39%
This is to say that Cade Cunningham has never played significant minutes with a player with a shot profile like Malik Beasley. Not only does he shoot an elite percentage from three, but his shot diet of mostly threes is a skill set this offense has been severely lacking.
Defense
I know what you’re all thinking. What about Bojan Bogdanovic? What about Alec Burks? Weren’t they good shooters? Yeah, sure, but they were oft-injured and when they were healthy, they were awful defenders. While I don’t think Beasley is winning the award of best perimeter defender anytime soon, Pistons fans should at least expect competence. And to be fair to Beasley, when you start next to Dame Lillard all last season, you’re going to take on the tougher defensive assignments.
After having to watch wings like Burks, Bogdanovic, and Evan Fournier defend last year, Malik Beasley should be a welcome improvement. He’s listed at 6-foot-4 and 187 pounds. For context, Ivey is listed at 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds while Tim Hardaway Jr. is 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds. Beasley is on the smaller side relative to other players on the roster.
All three of Beasley, Ivey, and THJ should see plenty of minutes playing next to Cade. Is Beasley the best defender out of this group?
Overall Expectations
I’d expect Malik to play roughly 24 minutes per night where his role is to come off the bench and let it fly. After averaging 30 minutes per game last season, I’ll project that Beasley shoots over 40% from three on 6+ attempts. A player with a shot diet like Malik will hopefully make the lives of Cade and Jaden much easier as he’ll pull his defender away from the basket. And when his defender sags off him to help, you better get Malik Beasley the ball when he’s open because that’s an easy three points for Detroit.