In his first summer as front office chief of the Detroit Pistons, Trajan Langdon made a number of new additions. Rather than trying to make a big splash, he focused on bringing in veterans to complement the team’s young core.
One of the Pistons’ final moves this offseason was the signing of veteran Malik Beasley for $6 million. After playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard last season, he is now being used as a reliable kick-out candidate for Cade Cunningham.
Recently, the folks at Bleacher Report compiled a list of the best summer signings from every team, and since he’s an ideal addition, Beasley was selected for the Pistons.
Nabbing him for a one-year, $6 million deal after the season he delivered for Milwaukee seems like a bargain we should all be talking about more. Is Beasley perfect? Not even close. But he took on an outsized role on defense last year — and was far from bad. He performed well, especially when given bigger responsibilities.
Granted, the Pistons didn’t sign Beasley in the hopes that he would be an above-average defensive player. This is about shooting. And he can shoot.
With players like Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren on the roster, Beasley won’t play a major role on defense in Detroit. His main focus will be to solve the team’s space issues on offense.
Beasley, 27, is coming off the best three-point season of his NBA career, averaging 11.3 points per game and hitting 41.3% of his three-pointers on nearly seven attempts per game. If he can replicate that success rate with the Pistons, he should quickly establish himself as a key supporting player.
