Former Detroit Pistons shooting guard Malik Beasley isn’t ruling out a return to Detroit.
In a Snapchat story posted on Wednesday, Aug. 6, the NBA free agent says that he’s preparing to play in the upcoming season, despite having no reported contract offer from an NBA team after news broke of his involvement in a federal gambling investigation.
Advertisement
“We gotta be prepared to come back to the Pistons, or, like I said, there’s some other teams interested as well,” he said. He didn’t reveal which other teams have expressed an interest, nor the level of interest they have in signing him.
The Pistons initially offered Beasley a three-year, $42 million deal, but the contract negotiations stopped after a report surfaced of an FBI investigation into suspicious gambling activity involving Beasley while he was a member of the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2023-24 season. Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon called the team’s pivot away from Beasley “disappointing,” as the team signed free-agent shooter Duncan Robinson to a three-year deal instead.
Beasleys’ off-the-court issues have extended beyond the gambling investigation. An ESPN investigation revealed that Beasley is being sued by Hazan Sports Management Group and owes money to various creditors, including a money lender.
That could be a reason why Beasley, who set the Pistons’ franchise record for most 3-pointers in a season (319) hasn’t signed with an NBA team yet. According to his post, he’s using the league’s turn away from him as motivation:
Advertisement
“I got this new chip on my shoulder, of like ‘F the world,’ kind of,” he said. “You know, my back against the wall and nobody believes in me, everybody’s just saying what they’re saying. So, I got a new focus.”
In a separate post, Beasley acknowledged that he had “made mistakes,” but didn’t detail exactly what they were:
“Am I proud of those mistakes? No. I’m human.”
Beasley played in all 82 regular-season games for the Pistons in the 2024-25 season while finishing second in the NBA in 3-pointers made. His sharpshooting off the bench was a big reason the team made the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season, as he averaged 16.3 points per game and finished second in the sixth man of the year vote.
Advertisement
Detroit still theoretically has room for Beasley on the roster, though the Robinson signing somewhat negates the need for high-level three-point shooting. The former University of Michigan standout has averaged nearly 40% shooting on 7.2 3-pointers per game for his career, numbers that eclipse Beasley’s career marks.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Malik Beasley gambling update: ‘Prepared to come back to the Pistons’