Speculation about Malik Beasley’s future hit fever pitch yesterday when a video emerged him hanging out with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren in Italy.
The videos and pictures were shared widely on social media, adding fuel to the speculation that Beasley is going to return to Detroit after a tumultuous offseason that has been filled with twists and turns.
Beasley was under investigation for gambling, then he wasn’t, then he was again.
Then he started leaving cryptic messages on Instagram that Pistons fans are picking apart like the Zodiac letters.
If you read the comments under any of these social media posts, you’ll see the idea of Beasley returning to Detroit is a popular one among the fanbase.
I’ve written about how it could be a silver lining if the Pistons can add Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert and then sign Beasley at a discount, but some fans have rightfully asked what kind of role Beasley would have on this current Pistons roster.
Detroit Pistons and Malik Beasley’s changing role
Beasley clearly impacted his young teammates in his first season in Detroit and it’s not surprising that he is friendly with some of them off the court.
This certainly doesn’t mean Beasley is coming back to Detroit, and this could just be some friends hanging out and enjoying their time off.
But let’s assume for a minute that Beasley is returning to the Pistons. Detroit has an open roster spot, so that is not an issue, and if Beasley is willing to play for the $7.2 million the Pistons can offer him, that will be a discount rate for a player of his talent, so money is not an issue either.
But fit might be.
If Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren are the starters as expected, with Duncan Robinson, Caris LeVert, Ron Holland and Isaiah Stewart definitely coming off the bench, where does that leave Beasley?
You could potentially play him at shooting guard with some combination of those four bench players, but his minutes have to come from somewhere. The Pistons also added Javonte Green and drafted Chaz Lanier, so they have a lot of guards with few minutes to go around.
I think it’s a problem worth having, as having another elite shooter isn’t going to hurt anything, but Beasley may find himself with far fewer minutes than he was getting last season when he was the first and only real offensive option off the bench.
Will that possibility affect his final decision? And do the Pistons really see him as part of the plans now? We shall see.