Malik Beasely had a breakout season for the Detroit Pistons in what turned out to be a great fit between the veteran and a young team, and Detroit hopes the same happens again next season with Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert.
The Pistons caught lightning in a bottle with Beasley, who they nabbed late in free agency on a lowball one-year deal that turned out to be one of the best values in the NBA.
Beasley was put in the right situation as a bench scorer who wasn’t asked to do anything but launch 3-point shots, which he did at a historic rate. He had the right guys to get him the ball in his spots, and Beasley thrived in a perfect role for him.
The two newest Pistons are primed to have similar types of seasons for Detroit.
Caris LeVert
LeVert has been a steady player for most of his career. He’s not a high-efficiency scorer but can make plays with the ball and occasionally gets hot for a big game.
He has a head start with the Pistons, as he has already played 161 games for JB Bickerstaff as part of the Cleveland Cavaliers, so the two know each other well and that familiarity was likely part of his appeal to Trajan Langdon.
LeVert had solid seasons under Bickerstaff, averaging 13 points, four assists and four rebounds, numbers that would be a nice upgrade over Tim Hardaway Jr. when you consider LeVert is also a better defender who can do more with the ball as a secondary playmaker.
JB Bickerstaff has a knack for getting the best out of players, and we could see LeVert put up big numbers next season in the right role.
Duncan Robinson
Robinson thrived as a 3-point shooter last season even though he was on a team without a real point guard.
The Heat shared the playmaking duties, with center Bam Adebayo second on the team in assists behind Tyler Herro.
Many of Adebayo’s assists were to Robinson, who can hopefully develop a similar two-man game with one or both of the Pistons’ centers.
Robinson will also suddenly have one of the best playmakers in the league getting him the ball in Cade Cunningham, something he did not have in Miami. Cunningham was near the top of the league in assists and is a player whose gravity opens up a lot of space for shooters, just ask Beasley.
Robinson will get more easy looks and he’s proven throughout his career that he can knock them down.
The table is set for both of these players to have big seasons for the Detroit Pistons and be upgrades over the guys they are replacing.