During his first summer at the helm of the Detroit Pistons Within the management, Trajan Langdon has made a lot of recruitments. Instead of trying to make a splash, he has focused on bringing in complementary veterans to surround the young core of the team.
One of the last moves the Pistons made this offseason was bringing in veteran Malik Beasley on a $6 million deal. After playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard last season, he will now be expected to be a reliable option for Cade Cunningham.
Recently, people from Bleacher Report compiled a list of each team’s top additions this summer. Considering he’s an ideal fit, Beasley was chosen for the Pistons.
Signing him to a one-year, $6 million deal after the season he delivered in Milwaukee seems like a steal we should all talk about more. Is Beasley perfect? Not at all. But he filled a standout defensive role last year and was far from terrible. He held up well, especially when he was assigned bigger assignments.
Of course, the Pistons didn’t sign Beasley with the expectation that he’d be a better defensive player. It’s all about shooting. And he can shoot.
With players like Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren on the roster, Beasley won’t have a significant defensive role in Detroit. His primary focus on the court will be to help alleviate the team’s spacing issues on offense.
Beasley, 27, is coming off the best three-point shooting season of his NBA career. In addition to averaging 11.3 points per game, he shot 41.3 percent from three-point range on nearly seven attempts per game. If he can replicate that kind of shooting success with the Pistons, he should quickly emerge as a key member of the supporting cast.
