With the shock news emerging yesterday that Malik Beasley is âunder investigationâ by the US District Attorneyâs office for alleged gambling related to NBA games and prop bets, the Detroit Pistons have had to very quickly change their plans for the offseason. And a new target has emerged.
In their latest round-up of free agency news from around the league, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line report that the Pistons will now instead target Caris LeVert, most recently of the Atlanta Hawks.
The Pistons, meanwhile, are strongly expected to focus on signing Caris LeVert away from the Hawks while Sacramento â as weâve been reporting for days â is widely expected to come to terms with Detroitâs Dennis Schröder on a deal that some are projecting to run for two years and inch toward the $30 million range to become the Kingsâ starting point guard.
Pistons, Quite Clearly, Seek A Wing
Until today, all LeVert news pointed in the direction of him re-signing with the Hawks. The Stein Line’s own reporting – backed by John Hollinger of The Athletic, who called it “likely” – seemed to agree that LeVert would stay in Atlanta, with no mention of any outside party’s interest.
LeVert has only been with the Hawks since February, when he was acquired as the main financial piece of the trade that sent De’Andre Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, in his 26 games there, LeVert posted very decent numbers of 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, doing so with tremendous efficiency. He shot 48.2% from the floor, and turned the ball only 1.0 times per game, serving as the sixth man on a Hawks team that still had playoff aspirations.
Although LeVert ostensibly plays the same position as Beasley, as well as their other documented free agent shooting guard target Nickeil Alexander-Walker, the three all play in different ways. Beasley is the unrepentant, more one-dimensional three-point shooter, while LeVert does more of his work off the dribble and on the ball, and Alexander-Walker does his best stuff defensively.
There are three different shapes playing pieces trying to fit through the round hole. At this point, the Pistons just want someone.
Reforming The Bench
As the Stein Line team also note, the Pistons are likely to lose Dennis Schröder in free agency to the Sacramento Kings. Schröder wants to stay, and was extremely useful in his brief time with the Pistons, yet he is expected to move on.
Veteran wing shooter Tim Hardaway Jr is also a free agent, and although news of his future has been much harder to come by, his age counts against him on the market. Having turned 33 in March, Hardaway is not a priority on the market, even though he remains an effective shooter.
Despite having their best season in almost two decades, and having genuine promise in a young core that has seen Cade Cunningham already ascend to All-NBA Team levels, the Pistons are facing the challenge of keeping things together while also continuing to improve. They want shooters to pair with Cunningham while also providing him with ball-handling and playmaking help, they want players who can work off of his threat while also taking over from him, and they want it all without the depth of cap space that they have had over the past couple of seasons.
It is not an easy one to balance. As the Hawks saw first hand, though, LeVert can be quite the useful addition off the bench.
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