The Detroit Pistons are reportedly set to sign free-agent sharpshooting wing Malik Beasley to a one-year, $6 million contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Pistons are hoping this is a sign of their patience being rewarded, as they had been probing the free agents and trade marks for several days with $26 million left to spend but not pulling the trigger on any deals.
They reportedly had an offer out to fellow 3-point volume shooter Buddy Hield, but he he opted for a lesser deal to join the Golden State Warriors. Beasley is more limited than Hield, but he does one thing well, and it is exactly what the Pistons are desperate for — 3-point shooting at good efficiency at volume.
Beasley played last season in the Milwaukee Bucks in the perfect role for his particular set of skills. More than three-quarters of his attempts were threes, and he connected on 41% of them and ended the season with a true shooting percentage above .600.
I wouldn’t expect quite that level of marksmanship from him in Detroit because the Pistons don’t have Giannis and Dame attracting every defender’s attention. But if you look at his years in Minnesota, Utah, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee, a clear picture emerges.
In that time he played 290 games and hoisted 2,273 threes, connecting on 38.5% of shots. That’s nearly eight attempts per game at 38.5% across the past five years. In the past three seasons, he’s also played 79, 81, and 77 games, which means Trajan Langdon is adding another spacing veteran who rarely misses games.
The issue with Beasley is that outside of his shooting prowess, he’s not going to provide much else. He never gets to the free-throw line, doesn’t move the ball at a high level, and isn’t a great defender.
Detroit’s not adding him for those other things, though, they are adding him to help space the floor for a young team of dynamic playmakers like Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Ausar Thompson.
The most interesting facet of adding yet another shooter on the wing is that it raises interesting questions about how it impacts the overall roster and the playing rotation.
Presuming Langdon will not be sending out young players in a future trade (still a big assumption), the question becomes what role do they envision for Ivey, Thompson, Ron Holland, and Marcus Sasser.
Adding roughly 4,500 minutes from Beasley and Hardaway Jr., two players who are pretty well locked in at the wing at shooting guard and small forward, while still not having a point guard might mean Detroit is ready to put the ball in Ivey’s hands as the defacto reserve point guard in bench lineups.
Whether that means Ivey is a bench player or the team employs an aggressive stagger with Cunningham remains to be seen. It could also signal that when the team carves out time for Thompson to see the floor, it won’t be as a player standing in the corner. Instead of hiding a non-shooter in the corner, they might be also want the ball in his hands. It doesn’t mean it will be guaranteed to work — Thompson’s handle is still worryingly loose — but I trust Thompson as a playmaker more than I trust his perimeter shot to develop in one offseason. The same could be said of incoming rookie Holland.
What of Sasser? I’m simply not sure where the minutes will be coming from. Barring injury, Sasser might only see spot minutes during the first half of the season. There is a chance minutes open up if Detroit is able to reroute an expiring player like Beasley or Hardaway to a contender at the deadline. However, if that doesn’t happen, it could largely be a development year for Sasser. I actually find that idea kind of refreshing.
Detroit, who still seems primed to leverage remaining cap space as the third team in a multi-team trade, still has roughly $21 million in cap space remaining. If they opt to slot Beasley into the room exception, they would still have $26 million remaining.
If no deals present themselves and there are no specific holes they are seeking to fill (at reserve center and backup point guard, most likely), the Pistons will move to re-sign Simone Fontecchio to a multiyear deal and Cunningham to his post-rookie max extension.