The future for former Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley in the NBA is still up in the air while the league continues an investigation into allegations regarding gambling on NBA games and prop bets, but the next step in his career has been revealed.
Beasley, 29, will join the Santurce Crabbers of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional — the top tier of professional basketball in Puerto Rico — for their upcoming season that begins in March, according to an ESPN report.
The team is owned in part by Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, who recently headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
This move will allow Beasley to get back on the court and be prepared for 2026 free agency as nothing has come back from the NBA’s investigation into Beasley’s alleged activities.
After a standout season with Detroit last year where he was runner up for Sixth Man of the Year, Beasley was in line to sign a multi-year contract with the Pistons. However, the federal gambling probe that involved Beasley ceased negotiations and he’s sat in limbo since.
The allegations were from the 2023-2024 season, before he joined the Pistons. And he’s no longer considered a target in the federal probe, according to Beasley’s representation.
“Months after this investigation commenced, Malik remains uncharged and is not the target of this investigation,” Beasley’s attorney Steve Haney told ESPN in August. “An allegation with no charge, indictment or conviction should never have the catastrophic consequence this has caused Malik. This has literally been the opposite of the presumption of innocence.”
The federal investigation did lead to charging 31 individuals across two major cases tied to illegal gambling, which included former Pistons guard Chauncey Billups. The trials for those two cases are anticipated to begin around September 2026.
The Santurce Crabbers sat dormant from 2017-2020, but under the new ownership of Bad Bunny, his manager Noah Assad and Jonathan Miranda, an executive at Assad’s record label, the team was revived.
A handful of former NBA players like longtime Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea, former first-round pick Skal Labissiere and 12-year veteran Dante Cunningham signed deals with the team.
Beasley thrived last season with the Pistons, setting a franchise record with 319 three-pointers and being pivotal to Detroit’s run to the playoffs. Now Beasley will try and keep himself in view of NBA teams while the league concludes its investigation.