Does Malik Beasley Playoff Performance Impact Detroit Pistons’ Decision To Re-Sign Him?

In today’s episode of Lockdown Pistons podcast, we are doing our playoff review of Malik Beasley’s performance and whether his performance should give the Detroit Pistons hesitancy when it comes to resigning him in the offseason. We’ll talk about all of it today’s episode, Locked on Pistons podcast. Let’s go. You are Locked on Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast, part of the Locked Onet. Your team every day. What’s the deal? Welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Pistons podcast. Per usual, I am your host, Cuckah Hill. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons for four years now with the Locked On Pistons podcast. I want to thank you guys for making Locked On Pistons your first listen every single day. We are free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel, locked on Pistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. And today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked inmbba at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Today’s episode, we’re going to do things a little differently. I know we’ve been dedicating full episodes to playoff player reviews, but I’ve decided that we’re only going to do that for the most important players. So, we did with Kar and JD. Um Isaiah Stewart would have gotten his full episode, but obviously Steu went down with an injury, only ended up playing one game, so he won’t get a full episode either. everyone else we’re only going to give segments to. So that’s what we’re going to do. And today we’ll talk about Malik Beasley and whether his performance should give the Pistons hesitancy when it comes to resigning him. We’ll talk about how Dennis Shruder showed up and balled out for the Pistons in the playoffs and also what to make of THA’s uh performance in the playoffs and moving forward with him. Um but let’s go ahead and get into it. Also, you guys know the description down below. Head to the Substack, subscribe over there. You guys will get written and film breakdowns throughout the offseason. We got it coming to you guys all the time. also the playback room if you want to join us and have some fun offseason content and watch some of the playoff games together as well. But let’s go ahead and get into it. Malik Beasley is expiring free agent or expiring contract this offseason. He’s going to be a free agent. Pistons obviously got him for probably the best value contract in the entire NBA this past season and he was absolutely exceptional all season long. He was probably we’ve talked about this a ton on the podcast. He was probably one of the absolute main reasons why the Pistons half court offense wasn’t flatly a bottom five half court offense. Why it wasn’t one of the worst offenses in the league because his shot making during the regular season was historic. He hit 300 plus threes. He’s one of only five players to hit the amount of threes that he did. Steph Curry or amount of five times that have done it. I believe it’s only Steph, Anthony Edwards who just did it. Clay and uh Malik Beasley. So had a historic season off the bench. Was fantastic. like I think he should have won six man of the year. But then the playoffs rolled around and in these playoffs, Malik Beasley, he did average 14 points a game, which was third in the team, but he was largely inefficient in the playoffs. And I know in in past episodes we did positives and negatives uh to each person’s playoff performance, but I think it’s hard to find a positive with how Malik Beasley played in these playoffs. Uh he did, like I said, he did average 14 points, but he shot 37% from the field, 33, basically 34% from deep. A lot of that came in the very end of the series. He heated up just a little bit at the very end of the series, but for the majority of the series, he was extremely cold, very inconsistent um from beyond the arc. And it’s one of the main reasons why the Detroit Pistons just couldn’t get things going offensively. I know this was a defensive series and we’ve seen the Knicks in a series against Boston look a lot better defensively than they had shown throughout the year. Um but even with that I think Malik Beasley’s performance one of the main reasons why you saw scores of like 194 a 93 to 94 game a 113 106 game uh instead of like seeing some higher scored games because Malik Beasley just was not playing very well. He hit six of 12 threes in the first game, which was great. Then he went 10 of eight, two of 10, three of nine, two of seven. And then in the final game, he had six, he went six of 13. So in the first and last game, the first and last game, uh, he he shot really well. Everything in between was horrible. He was not very good in between this series. Um, and it was a large part why the Pistons weren’t able to pull out this series, um, and win. Uh they needed Malik Beasley to play a lot better especially with how he played throughout the season and how heavily reliant they were with for his shot making um with especially within their half court offense and obviously we talked about the team and how they shot in the playoffs from deep. The Pistons as a team shot 32% from deep and that was in large part again to Malik Beasley and there’s some other players we’ll talk about later on the podcast TJ included. Um, but Malik contributed to that and if they would have just got some better three-point shooting, obviously we talked about that with Cade in his playoff preview. He was horrible from beyond the arc, but Malik Beasley contributed to it. So, he struggled on offense to really get anything going. And then I think what was what was an even bigger issue was his defense. The Knicks hunted him out every single time he was on the floor. They attacked him every single time he was on the floor. I thought the lineups when they would run THJ and Malik together without Assar on the floor, those lambs did absolutely putrid. They got obliterated defensively, they had no one who could guard at the point of attack. A lot a lot of times it was Malik Beasley who was being asked to guard at the point of attack for the Detroit Pistons. And when uh when when Assar was off the floor, it was him and Dennis Shrutder and Malik Beasley was just getting tormented in those lineups. Um, his defense I think I think his defense was even more concerning in the playoffs than his offensive game. Um, just to give some context here, the Malik Beasley THA Limes were a minus3.3. They had a defensive rating of 124.8. They got obliterated in those minutes and it was in large part due to him just being not that big, being a little undersized, not being great lateral quickness wise, um, just not just not a very good defender. And the thing with Malik is that you will take that. You will you will deal with his defensive shortcomings if he’s going to be the smart the spark plug that he was offensively all year. The problem was he just was not that. So you were getting bad offense that wasn’t really elevating and then you were also getting defense that was getting picked apart with him on the floor. So it was they lost his minutes by quite a bit. It wasn’t a good playoff series from Malik Beasley at all. One that he definitely would love to have back. I know there were some Pistons fans, they were giving him some stuff for being active. I think it was on Snapchat, whatever. And putting up those stories like just funny stories, being weird and stuff, whatever. Um, and he was like, “I’m a shooter. I’m going to shoot the ball whether it goes in or not. I can’t control that. I’m just going to keep shooting. Hope it eventually goes in.” And I get that. I’m not going to kill them for not, you know, I don’t think NBA players if they’re missing should be off the floor just depressed throughout the rest of their lives because they were missing shots. you just want them to keep shooting, keep playing, and hopefully they turn things around. Um, I don’t think it was the fact that he doesn’t care. I think he’s just a vibrant personality and very loose uh out there. Um, and for example, or to back up my claim of the the minutes with him on the floor, they were outscored by 6.13 points uh with him on the floor in this series. They had a 113.7 defensive rating. So, was not a very good defensive or not definitely a defensive series, but overall series from Malik Beasy. It was really bad. With that said, I know the question now has become, does how he played in the playoffs impact whether you want to pay him this off seasonason? And my answer is a resounding no. It doesn’t impact whether I want to pay him or not. I’m still resigning Malik Beasley. I He’s probably at the top of my to-do list, uh, getting him back on board. I’ve told you guys this many of times. Keith Smith of Spot Track came on and explained this to everyone. If you weren’t tuned in for that episode first, you should go tune in to that episode. Keith will probably have him on at some point in the offseason as well, but he already came on once. Um, the Pistons are going to be operating as an overthe team, which is a good thing in this regard because this will allow them to use the MLE. I believe it’s called the non- taxpayer MLE where they’ll be able to offer him 15, 14.5, $15 million annually on his contract in the first year, which is the most that any other team without Cash Race can offer him. So, they won’t be competing with teams that have cap space. It doesn’t seem like that anyone really is going to have cap space. And the teams that could have cap space, I don’t believe is going to be interested in Malik. Um, the only teams I believe would be interested in Malik are contenders, which they’ll have to offer the same contract the Pistons will. So, they’re going to operate as over the cap team and they will extend this MLE contract to him, which will be around 14.5 million, I believe, somewhere between 14 15. Um, and that’s something that I think everyone should be happy with paying Malik Beasley. I think that’s a really good contract, especially in today’s NBA. I’d be completely fine paying him that. I think it’s absolutely worth that contract. And while he did struggle in the playoffs, what he did throughout the season is not going to get overshadowed by a six-game sample size for me. Um, now the playoffs do matter more. The the they do they do matter more and you hope that you continue to play well in the playoffs next year rather than fall off in the playoffs. But the Pistons are not in the business of, you know, they’re not uh what’s an example? They’re not the the Golden State Warriors with Harrison Barnes where it’s like, well, he didn’t show up in the finals. We we’re just going to go ahead and get Kevin Durant to replace him. It’s like, no, the Pistons are up and cominging team, and if you get rid of Malik Beasley, who was in large part due to your or played a large part of your success this year, who are you replacing him with? You you don’t have a replacement. Also, he’s been great in the community. He’s been great in the locker room. And again, through the season, I thought he was the sixth man of the year. He was incredible throughout the year. Six games is not going to going to make me feel differently about that. Um, now, if he does show up in the next year’s playoffs when the Pistons make it and he plays badly again, if that were to happen, then I think you need to have some conversation about trading him. I I do and you definitely will be able to trade him on that contract. But that’s I mean, that’s when the conversation would start for me. Right now, I I don’t have any hesitancy about paying Malipas. I think he deserves it. He was a great value contract. He wants to be here. He’s great in the locker room. The guys love him. The team loves him. He I think you have to bring him back. I don’t I’d be shocked if people felt like after these playoffs that this was enough to say, “Oh, actually what he did all season help him change the culture, how great he played, we don’t want him.” I I’d be pretty shocked if that was the case. But again, that’s not too short change at all. He was really bad in the playoffs. Like that’s just flatly. I think Malik would tell you that. Um I but he that that shouldn’t change whether you want him on the team. So let me know in the comment section down below. Do you believe that the Pistons should still resign Malik Beasley this upcoming offseason despite how badly he played in the playoffs? Let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter. Another veteran that played in these playoffs with the Detroit Pistons that were was acquired at the trade deadline that absolutely showed up and balled out. Dennis Shruder will review his playoffs coming up. Ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it’s easy to lose track. That’s where Monarch Money comes in. Your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center. 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Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. You guys already know it. Head to the description down below for the substack where I have K Cunningham’s playoff review. We have Assar Thompson’s playoff review up on there. I’m working on Jaylen Durn. Assaars took me like a week. JD’s is gonna take a little bit of time as well. I’m putting a lot of effort into it. It’s a written breakdown with a ton of film involved in it as well. So, if you guys want that, make sure you guys are head over there subscribing. It is paid content. Um, you get a free first time usage if you subscribe as a free subscriber after the first free time. If you enjoy it, you can subscribe for $6 a month. Um, and get all the content over there. We have all kinds of film breakdowns, written analysis, all that kind of stuff. Um, also subscribe to the playback if you haven’t already. I’ll put that description down below as well. Um, all right. So Dennis Rutder, they acquired him at the trade deadline and he I thought was he was a little up and down during the regular season after the trade deadline. He started off a little, you know, first few games like, okay, he’s working himself in. Not that not great, but not horrible. Then he started to play really well. Then he, you know, he just I thought he was a a quality backup point guard during the regular season. I thought he was fine. Um the guys in the locker room loved him. I can confirm that for you guys. I I’ve heard I heard throughout the season at the end that the guys in the locker room absolutely loved him. Excuse me. I’m bringing that up because I know that that’s been a story throughout his career at other points uh of his stoppage across the NBA that oh, is he liked in the locker room? You know, is he is he is he a good vet? Is he a good teammate? That’s stuff that’s kind that’s the stuff that has followed him whether it’s fair or not. That that is a narrative that’s followed him throughout his career. And I can confirm to you guys that what all I heard from multiple people at the end of the year is that the guys absolutely loved him and he was fantastic in the locker room. So that’s one thing. Then the playoffs arrived and the Pistons needed people to step up if they were going to take down a New York Knicks team that is more talented, that has more experience, that turns out had the better player in the series, um, and is a team that’s now in the Eastern Conference Finals. If they were going to pull that out, they were going to need some other guys to step up and play above what they had performed at during the regular season. Malik Bezy wasn’t able to. THA wasn’t able to. Dennis Shruder, he was absolutely able to. He was fantastic in the playoffs for the Detroit Pistons. This is raw numbers in the playoffs. 12 and a half points, 3.7 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals. He shot, and this is the big deal. This is the big part. He shot 49% from the field and 48% from deep on three and a half attempts a game. 48% from deep. And he hit multiple multiple big time threes, especially at LCA. At LCA at the two games I went to. Now, they ended up losing these games, but when he was on the floor at the end of these games and they had a chance to win, New York was coming back and the momentum was swinging back to New York multiple times. He hit a three that felt like, okay, he calmed everything down. the Pistons going to pull this out. That was the dagger. He took the momentum back. He was fantastic. He was clutch. He was great. They ended up losing the series. They ended up losing those games, but not because Shruder didn’t come out and show out. He played fantastic for the Pistons. And I think what was even better um or what was even more telling about Shruder um about how Shruder played in this series was he was a how do I want to say this? He was a viable option in between the first and fourth quarter to guard Jaylen Prren. Now, we’ve talked about it multiple times in the podcast that in in the end of the games, the fourth quarter, when the team when the New York Knicks are going to just spread the floor out, give Jaylen Brenton the ball, let him go iso, it’s a lot different because he’s a lot stronger than Shruder. He’s a lot bigger than Shruder when it comes to strength. Um, he has the ability to just knock him off his off his balance, get to his spots, get to his shots, and we saw that over and over and over and over again in the Force. However, from quarters one to three, when you can just fullcourt press, when you don’t have to worry about them just running ISOs every single possession, when you can just deny him the ball within the half court, when you can do all that stuff, Shruder was a pest. He was getting under Jaylen Brunson’s nerves. He was making incredibly difficult for him to get past half court. He turned him over a few times beyond half court. I thought he was a viable option. Wasn’t a great option at the end of games in the fourth quarter. He wasn’t the best option on the team, but he was definitely a viable option. He was giving it everything he had and he was being that pest. Constantly just going at Jaylen Brunson defensively, constantly just picking at him, picking at him, picking at him. And I thought he was really good in that regard. Another area that I thought was really impressive for Shruder was that he came through and and it wasn’t the Pistons still need more from this from this position, right? They still need more from what I’m about to talk about. But he did what he could. Shruder. Again, like we talked about with JD in his playoff review, there was a ceiling with JD, and JD hit that ceiling. Whatever ceiling he had in the playoffs of what he could be, he made sure he hit that ceiling. Shruder, I feel like, is the same thing. Shruder had a ceiling for this playoff series of what he could do. And he hit it. He He hit the ceiling. He didn’t perform below expectations. He hit the ceiling of his expectations. Some may argue that he went above his ceiling of expectations. With that said, the Pistons do probably need more from this. But my point is is that the minutes with him and Kate Cunningham were good. They were only outscored by 0.5 points per possession. They had a 111 offensive rating, 112 defensive rating. A lot of that, I think, was probably swayed in the final game. Um because I know throughout the first four games, it was a really positive net rating. And the reason why it was so good was because it helped the offense elevate in the half court because it gave someone else in the half court. you had someone else within the half court offense that could run your offense, that could get to the rim and kick out, that could create some advantages somewhat. Now, again, Shooter is not some superstar. The Pistons need to upgrade that that part of their offense badly this off seasonason. They desperately need people who can create advantages offensively without Cade having to create it for them. But Shruder could do it to an extent and he did it to the best of his abilities and him and Cade minutes were good because of it. It helped out offensively. Then obviously like I said defensively from quarters 1 to three you had Cade still being able to guard OG and then having Shruder guard Brenson it was fine. I really there there’s one thing I really wish we would have got a lot more of is the lineup I would have ran. I would have ran Shruder Cade and Assar next to each other. I thought that I that that would have been a lamp I played a lot of. you can swap Shruder and Thompson uh on Jaylen Brunson. You have two of your better defenders on the floor while maintaining um while maintaining that secondary playmaking and ball handling with Shruder. You can play Tobias and Duran with that. I felt like that was that would have been the lineup that I went with closing games. I would have played it a lot more in these playoffs, but we didn’t really get it. We only got it for 26 minutes, which is basically nothing. Um, so I would have ran it a little bit more, but Shruder himself, his individual performance, he was fantastic. And before the playoff series, I was unsure of whether he would actually be be brought back. I didn’t know if he would just be a half the season rental. They didn’t give up anything for him. Uh, I didn’t know if he would be a half the season rental and just like a, okay, we tried it out. You know, he helped in the short term, but now we want to go get something for a long-term answer. after the playoffs. I do feel like it’s probably it’s pretty likely that he will be resigned depending on how much he’s asking for and what another team wants to give him. I do think it’s probably likely the Pistons will bring him back. I also saw a report uh last week that said that believe yeah not believe Beasley and Shrruder uh were likely to be high in the Pistons priority list of guys to bring back. So I do expect Shruder to come back. Um I think he was a great vet for this team. He played great in the playoffs. Was absolutely fantastic in the playoffs. And really, if he would, if they the Pistons would have won this series, I think Shruder would have gotten a ton of credit. Like an an absolute ton of credit. He balled out and he gave it everything he had. He was great. He was absolutely what you wanted. He was way actually way more than you wanted when you traded for him at the deadline. You gave up basically nothing for him. And he was arguably your third best player, fourth best player in the in in in the playoffs. like yeah he he was great. So I I have no problem with resigning him. I think he’ll be great coming back and obviously like I mentioned earlier in the locker room for this team. So let me know in the comments section down below or over on Twitter. How did you feel about Dennis Shrew’s playoff performance and do you want to bring him back in the off season and if so for how much on his contract? Let me know again comment section down below or over on Twitter. Coming up, another veteran that didn’t have the greatest playoff series. And will this have an impact on his future? We’ll talk about THJ coming up. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on Pistons your first listen every single day. We’re free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Lockdown Pistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. Another great way to support the podcast. You guys already know it. The description down below for the substack and for the playback room. You guys know all about I appreciate all the support. Let’s go ahead and get into THA’s playoff performance for the Detroit Pistons. THA is another veteran that just did not play very well for this team. Um he had that one game when he went lights out, six of six from deep in the first half. He cooled off in the second half, but he did have that. That’s the game that the Pistons needed to win. They had to win that game. you get that kind of performance out of THA, you win that game. They weren’t able to and I think that was somewhat looking back on it, I do feel like that was somewhat of a turning point in the series is that you got that game from THA and you weren’t able to win it. You got to pull that one out. Um, but outside of that game, THA was really rough. Um, 30.8% from deep, 12 points a game, but again, really terrible efficiency. Um, and he’s just another guy that he’s just another guy that if he’s not giving you something offensively, he’s not spacing the floor and hitting a bunch of threes, he’s not a good defender. So, it’s hard. It’s hard to make things happen um with THA and his flaws are exposed even more with that happening. Now, I know that his net rating on the series was a plus 2.0, zero, but that is largely because the Pistons starting lineup was great and he’s in the starting lineup and they played a ton of minutes. Um, so that he was helped a ton net rating wise if you just looked at that from the fact that the starting lineup was so good and he simply played with that. So like for example, if you take a SAR off those lines with THA, they go from being a plus 10.3 with THA and a star off the on together on the floor, you simply take a SAR off, THA is a minus 8.53 in his playoff minutes. Um, so I think that had a lot to do with his his net rating. It was simply because it was the mens he played with the starters. Um, the the mens he did not play with the starters were not very good at all. And we already talked about the Malik Beasley and THJ men, how those ones didn’t work out. Look, TH is a guy again who was fantastic in the locker room, fantastic vet, the players love him, the team loves him. Um, he was great for his role this year. I thought I thought he did what I thought he was mostly what you expected from him throughout the season and then the playoffs just performed way below expectations. Uh he he now he did hit what I thought was going to be the dagger in game six. Um that step back along the baseline in the fourth quarter. I thought that was the dagger. It didn’t turn out to be the dagger. Um he at times he hit some clutch shots. At times he also missed some really bad shots that you really would have liked him to hit that were open. He did get fouled in that corner three that I believe he would have hit at least two of those and maybe the Pistons win the series. But nonetheless, um this was not a great series for THJ for the same reasons of Malik. Didn’t have a great three-point shooting series and he’s not very good defensively and they were targeted each possession. Uh uh Jaylen Brunson attacks him. Oanobi attacked him. Muel Bridges I thought was really attacking him. Especially when Mikuel started playing well, that’s when the Pistons were really screwed. I think if you want to be honest, I think that’s playing a large part in Nick’s success success now uh after the Pistons series because you’re starting to see Mikuel wake up and do a little bit more in the half court. You’re starting to see OG do a little bit more within the half court and it’s making the Knicks a lot harder to guard and it’s because I felt like Malik or not Malik Muel and OG were starting to attack Tim Hardway Jr. and especially Mikuel started to wake up a little bit as the season went on. started play our series went on started played really well because THA just doesn’t have anything for Mikuel. Um so I think that’s the area where the Pistons have to improve on this offseason. They need two-way guys. They need guys that can shoot threes and also play defense, not guys who play defense and can’t shoot threes and guys that can shoot threes and can’t play defense. I think that’s where they’re going to upgrade at. So that takes us to are they going to resign THJ? Now, I’ve said this a few times on the podcast, and I I’ve confir confirmed that this is true, but I don’t know the exact rules of it. Again, we will have Keith Smith on the podcast, and he will completely explain it for us soon. Um, but basically there is a rule where becau because THAA is an expiring contract this offseason, but they have a cap hold on him. There is a way in which the Pistons and sign THA to a contract um that has the last two years of his contract non-g guaranteed. So they can resign him only the first year is guaranteed and that will allow them to then flip him immediately after signing him and use his salary as a matching contract. I believe and I’ve heard from some people that that is something the Pistons will look into doing this offseason, trying to utilize THA’s contract to flip and be a salary matcher. Now, that that’s going it’s not as easy as that because then you obviously need THJ to agree to it. Like he has to agree to this contract and then be agree with wanting to, you know, do this whole thing like he would have to be on board with it. So, it’s not like it’s an automatic thing to happen. However, I do think it is one of the options, a pretty nice option for the Pistons. I think it makes sense for them to use THA’s contract, use him as the salary filler, maybe throw him tech in a pick and try to go upgrade at the four position, get a two-way guy. I think that’s an that’s would be really good for the Detroit Pistons. Don’t know if they’re able to do it because THA would have to agree to it again, but um that’s certainly an option for them and would make a lot of sense. And we’ve talked about a few times last offseason, Michael Blackstone, the Pistons um salary cap leader. I I forget what his exact position’s called within the front office, but he is like the secondhand man and like the the the salary guy. He is the cap space guru, the leader of the cap, you know, team, whatever. Um, he’s very savvy. He is very very savvy and very smart with the cap. So, I definitely think this is something that’s going to be put on the table and something they’re going to investigate. Um, but I I do not think even if they don’t get that done, I I don’t think they’re going to bring THA back. And that’s not because I think THA was just flat out horrible. It’s just they need and I guess this is kind of spoiling some of my thoughts on the offseason uh that we’re going to talk about throughout this off seasonason, but they cannot just completely run it back. If they want to run it back with the young guys, sure. Okay. Yeah. You cannot completely just run back the exact same rotation this year. You still need to improve along the margins. You cannot just completely Excuse me. You cannot completely just run back this team. Just because the Pistons were good this year does not mean that they’re going to be automatically slated for a top six team or a top six seed if they just completely run this roster back. The Magic going to try to get better. The Pacers will be better. The Knicks will be even better. Maybe the Celtics fall a little bit. Cavs will be better. And who knows, one of these other teams below are going to try to get better. I I don’t think the Hawks are going to just sit around not try to get better. Point is, the Pistons don’t need to make a a trade for a star, but they do need to improve along the margins. They they like improve along the the ends of the rotation. And again, they need guys that can play defense and shoot threes or guys that have size at least that can shoot. So, I would thank THA for his services. I think he was good in his role. I thought he did exactly what you needed from him this offseason. I would upgrade from THA this offseason. that that would be the the position I would upgrade from if they bring him back. Is it the end of the world? No. He’s a good veteran. He’s good in the locker room and he does provide some value as a shooter. Like his his quick trigger and his ability to get hot. Won the Pistons multiple games this year. I would be trying to upgrade from his position. Um I think it’s not and it’s not even so much just because of the playoff performance. Uh even though that doesn’t help his case. Obviously, if he went scorched earth in the playoffs, I think obviously we’d be sitting here saying, “Yeah, probably want to bring him back.” But he wasn’t like fantastic during the regular season. I thought he was what you expected. Then he fell off in the off in the in the playoffs. Um, and he’s a position where you’d like to upgrade from. He’s not as valuable as Malik. I don’t think he’s as valuable as Shruder and he’s a replaceable guy. So, thank him for his services. I thought he was great for the team in the locker room, but you need to upgrade somewhere. I think TH’s position where you’d probably upgrade from. Let me know in the comment section down below. Does THA’s playoff performance impact whether you guys want to bring him back or not? Let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cuckill. That’s all I’ve got for you guys today. Thank you guys for making Lockdown Pistons your first listen of every single day. We’re free and available on all your podcast platforms. Hit that subscribe button to the YouTube channel. Leave us a fivestar review whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. And until next time, I will see you guys later. Stay safe out there. And until next time, peace out everybody.

Can the Detroit Pistons reshape their future with strategic offseason moves? As the Pistons reflect on their recent playoff performance, the spotlight shines on Malik Beasley, Dennis Schröder, and Tim Hardaway Jr. Beasley, a standout during the regular season, faces questions about his playoff struggles and potential re-signing. Schröder’s clutch performances and defensive prowess against top opponents like Jalen Brunson are dissected, while Hardaway Jr.’s shooting inconsistencies prompt discussions on his future role.

The episode explores the Pistons’ need for two-way players who can shoot and defend, emphasizing the importance of strategic roster enhancements.

Tune in to discover how the Pistons plan to strengthen their roster and what it means for their upcoming season.

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24 comments
  1. I think bringing Beas back is 1, I love to see Dennis back too. I don’t hate bringing thj back and just running this back with Ivey starting over him AS LONG AS we get thj at a good price not over paying! That’s important but Def bring back Beas and Dennis

  2. I see fans want to keep both Beasley and Schroeder? Have fans considered how the return of Ivey affects Schroeder? Do the Pistons need a 4 guard rotation & how would the minutes be distributed 🤷🏾‍♂️

  3. I’d like to see them resign Beasley, sign Dre for that 3rd backup center, upgrade the 4 without gutting the roster, get a 3rd ball handler at a budget price be it Dennis, lonzo ball or some other quality guard, package Simone for a 2nd rounder and to free up cap space.

  4. I don't think Schroeder wants to be resigned only to play a backup role. I definitely think Beasley should be resigned. We wouldn't have made the playoffs without him.

  5. DEEETROIT BASKETBALL 🏀. Keep Mailk for the same price. He played great in the first half of the season. In the second half, he suck. Beasley only shows up in one playoff game.

  6. I feel they picked up Shroeder specifically because Ivey was down. They don’t need all of Ivey, Schroeder, Beasley, and THJ on the roster if there isn’t an injury among them. My guess is that THJ is the odd man out. However, if there is the opportunity for an impact player that could change.

  7. THJ, provides tangibles such as being a solid veteran and a good role model for our young core. This is invaluable. However, I agree with what Ku is saying for the most part..💯

  8. I disagree I feel we shouldn't keep Beasley for a veteran player that can't perform in a playoffs why would you want a player like that people have to understand the postseason is where it matters is when or go home it's not the regular season and I don't get me wrong you have to win enough in a regular season to get to the playoffs but more importantly a playoff game is where it counts I don't care how good of a player if they can't perform in a postseason why would you want him if you watch baseball New York Yankees is a perfect example Aaron judge is a superstar player he break records does all this unbelievable stuff during a regular season but when it comes to postseason he is like one of the worst players All I'm saying is I disagree we shouldn't keep Beasley I want a player that's going to perform on both regular season and postseason let's be real we can have multiple great seasons All we want to but if we don't get the right players that's going to perform in a postseason what's the point

  9. The return of Ivey changes alot of these discussions. All 4 vets value went up after this year but all 4 would be part of our bench unit. So, I wouldn't be so willing to sign them to long term deals.

    We need a bigger 2 guard and I'd try to trade and grab Moody for Fontecchio. Gives GSW a little more in 2026/27 to afford Kuminga after the resign.

    Cade, Ivey, Moody, and Sasser work better in my opinion.

    I'd then look at an option for a 3rd PG as backup and resign Waters. Your 1 and 2 spots are now 3 deep.

    Thompson, Holland, and Klintman round out your SF position.

    This saves a ton of money to go after a PF and C. We need better balance and productivity from those two positions. I'd go for Bol and depending on what the Bucks do, see if Lopez would like a backup/mentor role. Two bigs who can shoot and play a little defence AND are affordable goes a long way. Add Tola Smith and an athletic 6'9" PF and we're rolling.

    But I'm just talking crazy…

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