Beasley will be entering his ninth season in the NBA with his sixth different team.

The Detroit Pistons makes another move during this free agency period by signing free agent Malik Beasley on a $6 million, one-year contract according to Stadium and The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Beasley was previously with the Milwaukee Bucks last season among a bevy of other teams in his career.

The 27-year old guard has been in the NBA for eight seasons and besides the Bucks, he started his career on the Denver Nuggets then was on the Minnesota Timberwolves until 2022. Beasley would then be on the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2022-23 season before coming to the Bucks. He would act in a supporting role to the likes of stars Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and others on Milwaukee.

Pistons have expressed interest in Beasley before

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Last season with Milwaukee, Beasley averaged 11.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from the three-point line. Some may not see it as a total shock that Beasley went to the Pistons since it was reported by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that there was interest from Detroit.

“Before the Dallas Mavericks agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with Klay Thompson, Beasley was the team’s top backup option, league sources told HoopsHype. The Detroit Pistons have also expressed interest in Beasley and have flirted with offering the 27-year-old guard a one-year deal,” Scotto wrote. “However, Detroit has held off for now amid trade discussions with other teams to act as a salary dump destination for draft pick compensation, league sources told HoopsHype.”

Besides the Pistons, Beasley also received interest from the New Orleans Pelicans since they believe that he could “stretch the floor” alongside their main, featured star in Zion Williamson. Also reported by Scotto, the Pelicans were looking to trade for a center, so it is likely that their focus went away from the Florida State product.

“Lastly, the New Orleans Pelicans are interested in signing Beasley to stretch the floor around Zion Williamson, league sources told HoopsHype,” Scotto said. “The Pelicans are also eying a trade for a center while clearing some salary off their books.”

Beasley joins Detroit who has been active this summer

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It is also likely that the Pistons gave Beasley the best contract as his last contract was a one-year deal from the Milwaukee Bucks worth $2.7 million. Since the Pistons are coming off of a dreadful season where they had the worst record in the NBA, it could have been a hard pitch to make unless the money along with it was right and that was apparently the case.

Beasley can contribute as a complimentary piece for any team, especially to boost their three-point shooting since he has great efficiency from beyond the arch. As said before, he played college basketball at Florida State where he was selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

The Pistons have been very active this summer where they gave a large $226 million contract extension to their 22-year old main star in point guard Cade Cunningham as well as giving $52 million to former Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit star from 2015-2018 Tobias Harris. Adding Beasley to that mix, that is a solid start to the summer compared to other teams that have been silent during this free agency and signing period.

Detroit will try in anyway to improve after a disastrous last season where they went 14-68 which put them last in the Eastern Conference and the worst record in the NBA, close to the Washington Wizards who had 15 wins. Part of their rebuilding process for the Pistons was firing head coach Monty Williams and hiring former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.