Bill Simmons thinks the Detroit Pistons may have gotten worse this offseason and argued his case vs. Zach Lowe on a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast.
This wasn’t a complete hot take by Simmons, who did concede that the Pistons’ biggest chance for improvement comes from their own guys, but he can’t resist the urge to make some definitive declaration, the likes of which he’s been doing for his whole career.
This is off topic, but Simmons looks like he spent all day in the sun partaking in recreational activities enjoyed by many in the state of California. Get some eye drops or sleep, my man!
Anyway, Simmons clung to the point that Malik Beasley was the teams’ 2nd-best player last season, which Lowe rightfully pushed back on. Yes, Beasley was important, but he was a one-dimensional bench player. Even after Jaden Ivey’s injury, Beasley came off the bench due to his limitations, so I would argue that he was the team’s 6th-most important player.
I would also push back that the Pistons got worse, and in fact, when you look at the overall picture, will likely improve next season even though Beasley won’t be back.
Malik Beasley vs. Duncan Robinson
This is not a teardown of Beasley, as he was clearly huge for the Pistons last season. He brought some much-needed swagger to a young team and set an example for his teammates by working his butt off in the gym every day.
He also had a historic season shooting the ball, putting himself in some elite company along the way.
But that is literally all he did on the court. Beasley was a catch-and-shoot 3-point guy and nothing else. Every time he put the ball on the floor, I knew something bad was going to happen (and I was usually right).
He was, as Lowe said, “a complete liability” on the defensive end and if he wasn’t making shots was a detriment to the team, as we saw in the playoffs.
Robinson is not a lockdown defender by any means, nor is he a guy who is going to be your primary playmaker, but he has a better all-around game than Beasley and has put up consistently good numbers in the playoffs.
Beasley was all or nothing last season, a guy who would go 1-of-10 one night and 7-of-10 the next, which is great when he’s going well, but a liability when he isn’t. Robinson will be more consistent and contribute in more ways than Beasley did.
These are also complementary role players we are talking about here. The Pistons' biggest chance of improvement comes from the return of Jaden Ivey and the improvement of Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland and Jalen Duren. Replacing Beasley with Robinson doesn't change that.