The Detroit Pistons Might Have Priced Themselves Out Of Malik Beasley

Shortly before NBA free agency began at the end of June, ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news that federal authorities were investigating Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley “on allegations of gambling related to NBA games and prop bets.” The timing could not have been worse for Beasley, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent and reportedly had a major payday awaiting him.

According to Charania, Beasley and the Pistons were “in discussions” about a three-year, $42 million contract that they would have given him via their $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. However, once Beasley got ensnared in the gambling investigation, the Pistons instead pivoted to giving Caris LeVert a two-year, $28.9 million contract with their non-taxpayer MLE.

On Friday, Beasley’s attorneys told Charania that he “is no longer a target” of the gambling investigation after they had “extensive conversations and meetings with the Eastern District of New York.” Unfortunately, the Pistons are no longer able to offer him the same three-year, $42 million contract that he otherwise was in line to receive since they’ve already spent their non-taxpayer MLE on LeVert.

Since Beasley originally signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Pistons in 2024, they only have non-Bird rights on him. They’re allowed to re-sign him to a contract starting at 120% of what he earned last season, or $7.2 million, but that’s a far cry from the roughly $14 million starting salary that he was previously expected to receive.

Other teams are now in position to outbid Detroit for Beasley, although the Pistons could try to pitch him on a one-year paycut for larger riches in 2026.

Which Teams Can Outbid Detroit For Beasley?

At the moment, the Brooklyn Nets are the only team with any available salary-cap space. However, they aren’t the only threat to sign Beasley. Multiple teams still have some or all of their non-taxpayer MLE available, as Keith Smith of Spotrac relayed.

The Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings can’t offer Beasley much more than Detroit can, although the lack of state income tax in Florida could work in the Heat’s favor. (The nation-high state income tax in California could work against the Kings in that regard, too.) The reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder can offer him roughly $1.3 million more than the Pistons, although they already have 15 guaranteed contracts on their books and have plenty of depth at shooting guard.

The Chicago Bulls have an open roster spot and are roughly $38.6 million below the luxury-tax line, so they have the wherewithal to spend their full non-taxpayer MLE on Beasley. However, that final roster spot is presumably bookmarked for Josh Giddey, who’s stuck in a restricted-free-agency standstill. Even if the Bulls were interested in opening another roster spot for Beasley, they likely wouldn’t do so before knowing exactly how much Giddey will cost them next year. Crossing into luxury-tax territory figures to be a non-starter for them.

The same goes for the Charlotte Hornets, who are currently $11.7 million below the tax line. They need to begin showing progress at some point, but a team that won 19 games last season and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2015-16 has no business paying the luxury tax yet. Besides, they just spent the No. 4 overall pick on fellow 2-guard Kon Knueppel, whom they’d presumably like to see in the starting lineup sooner than later.

That leaves the Nets and Washington Wizards as perhaps the biggest legitimate threats to the Pistons for Beasley. Either one could essentially view him as a short-term rental that they’d aim to flip for future-focused compensation, perhaps by the Feb. 5 trade deadline. Both are currently over the 15-man regular-season roster limit, although the Nets have four players on non-guaranteed contracts whom they could waive to make more room.

However, the Nets and/or Wizards might prefer to preserve their non-taxpayer MLE to use as an in-season trade exception. If that’s the case, the Pistons may still have a shot to re-sign Beasley even if they can’t match other teams’ potential offers.

The Early Bird Alternative

While the Pistons can only sign Beasley to a contract starting at $7.2 million this year, they could try to pitch him on taking a two-year deal with a second-year player option. That would allow him to test free agency again next offseason, which might give him a better chance to cash in barring another surprise right before free agency begins.

If Beasley does re-sign with the Pistons this year, they’ll have Early Bird rights on him next offseason. That would allow them to sign him to a new contract starting at either 175% of what he earned in 2025-26 or 105% of the average salary in 2025-26, which is currently $13.9 million. That still might not match the projected non-taxpayer MLE in 2025-26 ($15.0 million), but it isn’t far off, and the Pistons could offer Beasley higher annual raises (8%) than any other team (5%).

If the final average salary lands at $13.9 million this season, the Pistons could start Beasley’s next contract at $14.6 million in 2026-27 and give him a four-year, $65.5 million deal in total. If he signed with another team via the projected $15.0 million non-taxpayer MLE, he’d have a slightly higher starting salary, but the smaller annual raises would cause his four-year deal to top out at $64.7 million.

All of those are rough estimates and remain subject to change, but either way, there likely won’t be much of a difference between Beasley taking the non-taxpayer MLE from another team next offseason and re-signing with the Pistons via Early Bird rights. He’d still have to make peace with earning less this year than he could with another team, but he could make up some of those lost earnings next offseason.

If he’s comfortable in Detroit and believes he’ll have a similar role even after the offseason additions of LeVert and Duncan Robinson, Beasley might be willing to take that leap of faith. But if he thinks he’d be at risk of fading into the background in a de facto contract year, he might be more open to exploring his other options.

The timing of the gambling investigation could not have been worse for either Beasley or the Pistons, both of whom had to audible right before free agency began. The Pistons made the best of a bad situation by landing LeVert and Robinson, but Beasley’s fate remains less clear. Either way, he’s no longer looking at the same payday in Detroit as he was two months ago.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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