Just last year, the Detroit Pistons were preparing to put a generous multi-year contract on the table for veteran guard Malik Beasley.
However, some off-court issues triggered a league-wide investigation. Although that matter was supposed to be settled by now, it remains unresolved, leaving Beasley’s NBA status uncertain.
Beasley began the 2025–2026 season hinting at a possible return to Detroit while he was a free agent, but that reunion never materialized and at this stage, it’s unclear whether it ever will.
Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley Message Is Bad News For Reunion Hopes
Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon recently spoke with the Detroit Free Press. When asked whether he’d been in touch with Beasley, Langdon made it clear that there’s been no contact.
“I have not talked to him about coming back,” Langdon said, per Omari Sankofa.
That doesn’t mean the two sides couldn’t still pick up the phone and open a dialogue, but the Pistons don’t appear to be rushing to reach out while the situation continues to drag on.
Malik Beasley’s Pistons Season
In the 2023–2024 season, Beasley appeared in 79 games for the Milwaukee Bucks. After averaging 11.3 points and shooting 41.3% from deep, he signed a one-year deal to join Detroit for his ninth NBA campaign.
With the Pistons, Beasley put up 16.3 points per game his first time averaging above 13.0 since 2022–2023 while knocking down 41.6% of his threes on 9.3 attempts per night. He played all 82 games, starting only 18, and finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
After earning under $7.0 million during his lone season in Detroit, Beasley was reportedly in line for a three-year, $42.0 million offer. But then the investigation emerged, and the Pistons got cold feet. They pulled the offer and pivoted in another direction, bringing in Caris LeVert and trading for Duncan Robinson to help fill the gap.
Detroit could have certainly used Beasley’s high-volume three-point shooting in 2025–2026, but the uncertainty surrounding his situation made it too risky. That still appears to be the case not just for the Pistons, but for the rest of the league as well.
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