Rapid reaction: What Detroit Pistons signing Michael Beasley signals

The Detroit Pistons have reportedly signed Michael Beasley. That means several things for the Pistons, including the possibility another move is made.

The Detroit Pistons are turning back the clock, signing the top two picks of the 2008 NBA Draft this summer.

Former No. 2 pick, Michael Beasley, signed a one-year deal with the Pistons, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Saturday night. Earlier this summer, the Pistons signed Derrick Rose, the top draft selection in 2008, to a two-year, $15 million deal.

Detroit will enter the luxury tax if the deal is guaranteed, given that they were $223,000 from the luxury tax line when they claimed Christian Wood. However, Wood’s contract won’t be guaranteed unless he’s on the roster for the first regular season game.

On Sunday, Rod Beard of the Detroit News reported that Beasley’s deal is non-guaranteed through the preseason. His contract will guarantee if he’s on the roster by the first regular season game.

This is it. This signing signals that the Pistons are all-in on winning. That is, if his deal is guaranteed and pushes Detroit into the luxury tax.

Beasley, 30, will be suspended for the first five games of the season for a failed drug test at the beginning of last season, Charania reported on Friday.

The Pistons roster appeared to be set with 14 guaranteed contracts, one non-guaranteed (Wood),  two, two-way contracts (Jordan Bone and Louis King) and Exhibit 10-signees Todd Withers and Donta Hall. Beasley’s signing gets the Pistons to 20 players heading into training camp.

The long-time small forward/power forward hybrid will bring extra competitiveness to the roster in camp. He stands 6-foot-9, 235 pounds and can give the Pistons an offensive weapon in a small-ball lineup or if they go big.

Beasley still has something to give, finishing with an above-average 15.9 player efficiency rating in 22 games with the Los Angeles Lakers last season. He’s only had two seasons where he’s been below-average (15 PER) in his 11-year career.

However, his offensive production has dipped the last two years and, having never been known for his defense, his net rating has taken a hit. Two years ago with the New York Knicks, he had a minus-7 net rating, tallying 103 on offense. Last season it dropped to minus-9 and tallying 98 on offense. Granted, one player can impact the ratings but it is more of a team effort.

Detroit has made a conscious effort to address their 3-point shooting bugaboos of years past. Beasley is another option to help them.

On the surface, he doesn’t look like a great shooter. Over the past six seasons, Beasley is 87-for-243 (35.8 percent) from 3-point range. He’s only played bits and pieces with 255 games played in that span.

Additionally, in five of the last six seasons every 3-point shot he’s made has been assisted, the exception being with the Knicks during the 2017-18 season. That will allow Rose, Luke Kennard, Blake Griffin and others to create the shot opportunity for him.

The roster coming out of camp will be interesting. Detroit has options by adding Beasley ahead of camp. The frontcourt logjam created could signal the end of the road for Wood or Thon Maker if Beasley is selected. Markieff Morris recently signed with the Pistons and will share time at power forward and center.

Perhaps a guard moves on, whether its Khyri Thomas, Langston Galloway or somebody else.

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With the offseason addition of Tony Snell, who is expected to start at small forward, the Pistons could be looking for depth behind him. It may mean that Sekou Doumbouya is not expected to get many minutes, despite a seemingly limitless potential. He’s only 18-years-old and will need time to develop. Then there’s Svi Mykhailiuk, who hasn’t proven he could defend consistently at the NBA level with a Defensive Box Plus-Minus of -2.1 for his career.

Though the likes of Bruce Brown and Kennard could play at small forward, both are 6-foot-5 and would be a mismatch issue defensively in most cases.

Regardless, Beasley is going to have to prove himself with a strong showing in camp if someone else is to move on.

It’s as if the Pistons aren’t finished making moves. Could it be a set up for a larger move to come? Possibly.

Adding Bradley Beal to the fold would be an instant upgrade and would lock the Pistons into playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. Another move could be as small as waiving a player or clearing salary.

Only time will tell.

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