Detroit Pistons and Malik Beasley show mutual interest in one another
The Detroit Pistons look solid at small forward and shooting guard on paper, but adding a shooting guard like Malik Beasley might be a good long-term move.
The Detroit Pistons will want to extend Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the team’s best defensive wing, long-term. Caldwell-Pope probably wants to be back.
But there’s always the issue of whether or not both sides can strike a mutually beneficial deal long-term.
The Pistons have the upper hand on Caldwell-Pope as he will be a restricted free agent next offseason. That means the team can match any offer sheet. Of course, Caldwell-Pope could pull a Greg Monroe and sign a one-year qualifying offer, ensuring he’d get to pick the team he goes to the following offseason, but that sort of move doesn’t happen often.
Regardless of what happens, the Pistons would be wise to look at external option in replacing the three-year guard, just in case both sides can’t strike a deal.
It looks like Detroit may already be fishing in the early stages off their offseason, interviewing Florida State guard Malik Beasely.
Beasley–who’s mom is a Detroit native–is thrilled about the prospects of getting drafted by the Pistons.
"“Detroit is a tough place,” Beasley said. “They play with toughness. My mom’s from Detroit, so it’s really cool. To play there, I wouldn’t mind playing with (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope).“They did really good in the postseason. Even though they got swept, they were great.“Just being able to talk to them was amazing and how they play and how I can fit in their system.”"
If anything, the Pistons’ interest in Beasley speaks more about what they don’t know than what they do know regarding Caldwell-Pope’s interest in remaining with the team under the right price.
Again–it’s better to be prepared and nothing happen, versus not preparing and being unable to strike a long-term deal with Caldwell-Pope.
I have no idea what the future holds for both parties, but I see merit to both extending Caldwell-Pope and potentially trading him while grooming his replacement–but that all depends on who his replacement is.
If Caldwell-Pope is extended, the Pistons ensure that they have a strong two way player who should only get better. They also would have him–and the rest of their young core–locked up for the foreseeable future.
However, if the Pistons were able to groom Caldwell-Pope’s replacement with a high upside rookie like Beasley, they could trade Caldwell-Pope for something of better or equal value at a position of need elsewhere.
The issue I have with the latter, is that Caldwell-Pope’s defense isn’t easily replaced, and I still think he’s a guy capable of someday averaging 18 to 20 points per game. The other issue is that rookie’s can have a steep learning curve–particularly one’s who are only 19 years old and drafted in the mid-to-late first round.
Take the Pistons’ interest in Beasley with a grain of salt. They could be interested in him being a long-term backup. The Pistons could also just be doing their due diligence on a high-upside player who is likely to be there for them at 18.
Until we get closer to the draft and hear more, it’s hard to tell if the Pistons’ interest in Beasley is legitimate or not.