It’s difficult to find a silver lining in the Malik Beasley situation for him or for the Detroit Pistons.
Beasley just lost $42 million regardless of how this gambling investigation turns out, as it’s not likely to be resolved any time soon, and by then every team will have moved on to other options. Beasley is innocent until proven guilty and hasn’t even been charged with anything, so there is a chance it won’t go beyond an investigation.
There have been additional reports that Beasley is involved in a civil lawsuit that alleges “financial problems” and steep debts, so it’s possible teams will want to stay far away even if Beasley is ultimately cleared of any legal problems.
The Pistons quickly pivoted, and Trajan Langdon was able to turn what looked to be a disaster into an offseason that is shaping up to be a good one, arguably better than if they had signed Beasley.
Detroit quickly inked Caris LeVert to add extra playmaking and scoring from the wing, then flipped Simone Fontecchio for Duncan Robinson (and signed him to a great deal ) to replace some of Beasley’s shooting.
Further reports indicate that the Pistons may not be finished the Dennis Schroder deal, which could end up sending Malik Monk to Detroit in a sign-and-trade.
If Monk ends up a Piston, that’s a lot of scoring from a suddenly deep and dynamic bench that might be better than the one Langdon was going to build around Beasley. This is nothing short of a catastrophe for Beasley personally, but it worked out just fine for the Pistons. Sorry if that sounds harsh.
It’s also not the end of the Beasley saga.
Some team is going to sign Malik Beasley eventually
I don’t want to speculate too much about what could happen to Beasley if allegations are true, as I am not a lawyer and we don’t know any of the details.
Terry Rozier was recently investigated on similar suspicions and was completely cleared of any wrongdoing, which could happen with Beasley. The two cases are not connected obviously, but it is one possible outcome.
It may take months, but at some point, Beasley could be back on the table, in which case there would be several teams ready to pounce with a minimum deal, which is all anyone is going to be able to offer.
If Beasley does come back, he’s going to have to do it on another lowball deal, so it’s possible some team is going to get an elite shooter for peanuts.
There are a lot of “IFs” here, and the Pistons certainly aren’t waiting around for Beasley, but his story isn’t over yet.