When the Detroit Pistons signed Malik Beasley late in the free agency period, he was a bit of an afterthought.
Fans were more focused on what Tobias Harris would mean to the team, or how the Tim Hardaway Jr., trade might benefit Detroit.
Beasley signed a one-year deal for $6 million, which immediately had “trade deadline move” written all over it.
Instead, Beasley has become a key component to Detroit’s unlikely success this season with his torrid shooting, confidence and infectious personality. He loves Detroit and the city returns it, so the likelihood of Beasley returning increases with each shimmy.
Beasley’s shooting success isn’t shocking, as this guy has always been one of the league’s better volume shooters from beyond the arc, but what he is doing this year could end up in the history books as one of the greatest shooting seasons of all time.
NBA 3-point leaders: Malik Beasley
After last night’s 44-point outburst from Anthony Edwards, in which he hit six 3-pointers, he and Malik Beasley are now tied for the NBA lead in 3-pointers made this season at 244.
Beasley has made 17 more than Stephen Curry has this season to put it in perspective.
What’s even more impressive is that Beasley is doing this from the bench, playing fewer minutes and taking fewer shots than Edwards or Curry, who are the centerpieces of their team’s offenses.
Beasley is playing 27 minutes per night and hitting nearly 43 percent of his 3-point shots on 9.4 attempts per game. He was absolutely smoking during the Pistons’ recent win streak, hitting more than half his 3’s on over 10 attempts per game.
Beasley is currently on pace to hit more than 300 3-pointers this season, which will put him at least top-10 in NBA history, as only a handful of players have done it and include some of the greatest shooters of all time in Curry (x5) Klay Thompson and James Harden.
If Beasley continues at this pace, he will finish 6th all time in 3-pointers made in a season, something few saw coming when he signed a modest one-year deal to join the worst team in the league.
The only problem now is that Beasley will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason and the Pistons are limited in what they can offer him. There will also be other teams sniffing around after what he’s done this season, so it’s not a given Beasley will be back in Detroit next year.
That’s why I am just going to enjoy this one, as there is something special happening in Detroit and Malik Beasley has been a huge part of it.