NBA Free Agency, Malik Beasley, and the WNBA | The Weekly Drive
The NBA's free agency period officially started, with a few fireworks that involved the Pistons
Good morning Pistons fans, and welcome back to the Weekly Drive. NBA Free agency is in full swing, and Detroit has been hard at work tweaking the roster…but there was a pretty big snag. Let’s get into it.
Not Gambling on Malik Beasley
Pun intended.
Malik Beasley is a person of interest in a gambling investigation out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, a stunning situation that has pulled the rug from under the Pistons. Beasley was, almost in-arguably, the second-best player last season for a Detroit team that won 44 games. He had a historic shooting season last year comparable to the likes of Stephen Curry.
To make matters worse for Beasley, he was reportedly being sued by his former agency (Hazen Sports) for $2.5 million. Beasley has a history of this, which The Athletic chronicled in an article here. In short, its a very, very bad situation all around. Not only will Detroit refrain from sign Beasley at all (and they were reportedly prepping a lucrative contract extension for him), but now nobody will.
Whether Beasley eventually has his name cleared or not, the Pistons were unable to wait around and find out. They had to pivot.
Pistons Free Agency Roundup
Dennis Schroder, who took over as the Pistons’ backup point guard at the trade deadline last season, has signed with the Sacramento Kings per his agency. There was talk of a potential sign-and-trade that would have sent Malik Monk to the Motor City (a great move), but those talks have appeared to be on hold.
To be fair, reporting on the sign-and-trade front has gone back and forth. The Pistons don’t need to take on a player technically (could be a trade exception), but the NBA moves fast this time of year.
Tim Hardaway Jr. reportedly signed with the Denver Nuggets on the veteran minimum, per ESPN.
Hardaway took the veteran minimum, per The Athletic.
In an effort to replace Beasley, the Pistons reportedly agreed to trade Simone Fontecchio to the Miami Heat for Duncan Robinson, per ESPN. As part of the trade, Robinson will also sign a 3-year, $48 million contract.
At first-glance, that may seem like an overpay. But the second year is a partial guarantee and the third is not guaranteed, per Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press.
The Pistons signed former Michigan Wolverine Caris LeVert to a 2-year, $29 million deal per ESPN. LeVert, who spent last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks, is a capable ball-handler and scorer who should see plenty of court time.
Detroit re-signed backup big Paul Reed to a 2-year, $11 million deal according to ESPN.
Swapping out Beasley, Hardaway, and Schroder (who all made 519 threes last season) with Robinson and LeVert (who made 296 threes last season) does not sound great on the outset, but it does give the Pistons a different look. Factor in that Jaden Ivey will be healthy and Detroit suddenly has a lot more on-ball juice with him and LeVert, plus one of the best movement shooters in Robinson. LeVert played backup point guard minutes under J.B Bickerstaff in Cleveland, and he may be tasked with some of that responsibility here as well.
Overall, good work to maintain flexibility while recovering from the Beasley fallout.
NBA Draft: The Pistons Select Chaz Lanier
Oh, and the NBA Draft happened. The Pistons selected Chaz Lanier with the 37th pick, a quick-trigger shooting guard who may get some extra playing time given the losses of Beasley and Hardaway. Our own Aaron Johnson covered Lanier here, and the guys talked about it on the podcast here:
The WNBA is Coming Back to Detroit
The WNBA made a major announcement this past week with the unveiling of Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia as the next cities to receive a franchise. Cleveland and Detroit held organizations previously, but Philadelphia is a new one. It seems right to have a WNBA team in Detroit, especially given that that city has a championship pedigree in that area.
Details remained sparse for the Detroit franchise, which is not expected to debut until the 2029 season.
What do you think of the Pistons’ free agency so far? Personally, given the shocking news regarding Malik Beasley, I feel the Pistons did a pretty good job. The contracts for Robinson and LeVert are easy to trade and/or get rid of should the front office want to push their chips in for a bigger move, which may be coming sooner rather than later. The Pistons maintained flexibility, which is always good in the world of aprons and hard caps.
See you all next week.
Mike