Pistons should bring back exonerated sharpshooter

Before the start of free agency, federal authorities revealed that they were investigating Beasley because of gambling allegations. That scuttled the Pistons' plans to offer the free-agent guard a three-year, $42M contract, which he was expected to accept. The team moved on to other options, adding Caris LeVert from the Atlanta Hawks and Duncan Robinson from the Miami Heat, but they still have a roster spot open.

That spot should go to Beasley, if he's willing to settle for the $7.2M that the Pistons can offer him — they're over the salary cap, but can go over it to sign Beasley using non-Bird rights. The team is still $21M under the luxury-tax line, so bringing back the player who just made the most three-pointers in a season in Pistons history should be a no-brainer.

Beasley finished second to Anthony Edwards in three-pointers last year, sinking 319 triples at a 41.9 percent. He was a huge part of Detroit's 30-game improvement from 2023-24, especially as the team went from 29th in made threes to 20th, sinking 1.8 more long-distance shots per game.

LeVert is a nice player, but he's a 34.5 percent career three-point shooter. Beasley is younger than Robinson and a better defender. The Pistons have fourth-year guard Jaden Ivey coming back from injury this season, but with Tim Hardaway Jr., Simone Fontecchio and Dennis Schroder all departing in free agency, there should be plenty of minutes for Beasley.

It's also simply a matter of fairness. Beasley's gambling allegations were based on unusual prop bet activity in a Jan. 31, 2024 game — but those bets lost when Beasley went comfortably "over" on rebounds. In the aftermath, news emerged of Beasley's legal and financial problems — embarrassing, but not criminal.

There are teams who could pay Beasley more than the Pistons, but most lack roster spots, are not looking to compete next season or are waiting for restricted free agents' decisions to make moves.

It should be simple. The Pistons and Beasley both wanted a reunion two months ago. Now that he's out of legal jeopardy, it's time to make that happen. The investigation cost Beasley a lot of salary, but if the Pistons make another playoff run, Detroit may be the best place for him to earn the lost money back.