For about a year now, Pistons fans have been holding on to some hope that Malik Beasley could return to the team after his historic shooting season in 2025. But that hope has now been dashed after he was reportedly indicted for gambling related charges. The news is sad to hear, but at least provides the Pistons some more clarity heading into a very busy offseason.
Beasley was always a long shot to rejoin
Getting Beasley back was never a likely outcome, even though the Pistons technically held on to his cap hold. Detroit has moved on to other shooters to fill his void and found success as a 60-win team without him. But the magic of his franchise-record 319 threes in the 2024-25 kept fans intrigued.
That season, Beasley entered a level of three-point shooting only matched by the absolute best snipers in league history. In fact, the only other players to hit at least 300 threes in a season are Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and James Harden. And none of them did it coming off the bench like Beasley.
Beasley was in line for a huge contract extension in the summer of 2025, but the Pistons had to pivot when news of his federal investigation was revealed. At the time, it felt like a huge blow but the Pistons must now realize they dodged a bullet hearing that news just before giving him a massive contract.
The Pistons can officially move on
With this news, the Pistons should be quick to relinquish Beasley’s cap hold and gain even more flexibility to upgrade the roster in other ways. That’s good news for fans hoping to see their team make big moves going into a season with high expectations.
The Pistons have done a smart job of retooling the roster with other shooters to make up for Beasley’s staggering production. Even last season, his replacement Duncan Robinson arguably had a bigger impact through his constant movement and off-ball playmaking despite making less total threes than Beasley.
Heading into next season, the Pistons have accumulated a solid rotation of off-ball shooters next to Cade Cunningham. They’ll probably be more eager to pursue a power upgrade at this point anyways than an additional guard, so the news of Beasley being taken off the table doesn’t impact Detroit’s offseason plans at all.
The entire Malik Beasley saga has taken its fair time playing out, but it’s finally reached a conclusion as far as the Pistons are concerned. With the most recent update, the fanbase should finally be able to eliminate any unfounded hope of Beasley returning to the team.
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