It’s not often that teams get an opportunity to add a high-impact player to the fold in late August, but guard Malik Beasley is still on the open market as a free agent, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are one of two teams that have allegedly checked in on him.
Beasley is no longer the target of a federal gambling investigation, either. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the day before the start of free agency that Beasley was under investigation, and Beasley seemed to be in line to sign an extension with the Detroit Pistons before the news came to light.
Now that the 28-year-old no longer has the gambling investigation hanging over him and teams around the NBA are showing interest in signing him, let’s break down why Beasley would be the perfect bargain addition for the Cavaliers.
Could take Cleveland’s 3-point offense to new heights
Plenty of teams that have won it all in recent years have relied heavily on the 3-point shot. The Boston Celtics in the 2023-24 season and Golden State Warriors in the 2021-22 campaign are just a few recent examples of title teams that lived and died by the 3.
If they signed Beasley, the Cavs would be adding an elite 3-point shooter to the fray, and that could put them in a great position to follow in the footsteps of the Celtics and Warriors.
He was one of the more effective long-range shooters in all of basketball across 82 games played with the Pistons last season. Beasley shot 41.6 percent from behind the line on an impressively high volume as well, considering he attempted a team-high 9.3 3s per contest.
The Cavaliers were already an elite 3-point shooting team last season and are maybe a shooter of Beasley’s caliber away from being far and away the best scoring team from deep in the 2025-26 season.
Cleveland could sign him for pennies on the dollar
In addition to the possibility that he could take Cleveland’s offense to new heights with his knack for spacing the floor, Beasley could also be a massive bargain for the Cavs.
Cleveland can only sign Beasley to the veteran’s minimum, meaning if it did acquire him, it would be on an extremely cheap deal.
Beasley is worth a lot more than that from an impact standpoint, and him on such a contract would make for one of the better deals in all of the NBA. For reference, he averaged a whopping 16.3 points per game a season ago and has averaged 11.7 points per contest at the highest level for his pro career.
Ultimately, it’s hard to imagine that the Cavaliers could land a player of Beasley’s caliber to a deal at the veteran’s minimum, but it’s certainly on the table since it’s so late in the offseason.
It’s easy to see why plenty of Cavaliers fans are clamoring for the team to go out and sign the former Florida State University standout, but whether Beasley will be content with taking a major pay cut to aid Cleveland in its title pursuit isn’t clear.
Beasley is comfortable in a bench role
The Cavaliers’ starting five seemingly doesn’t need fixing, as there is a strong combination of offensive and defensive firepower as well as floor spacing in the team’s opening lineup when at full strength. Beasley probably wouldn’t be a consistent starter for the Cavaliers in the 2025-26 campaign if he signed with them, but he’s accustomed to playing a reserve role.
In fact, Beasley has played in 578 total regular-season games across the first nine seasons of his professional career, and he started only 209 of those contests. Additionally, he started just 18 games with the Pistons last season.
Beasley embraced his bench role a season ago, and there’s nothing to suggest he wouldn’t do the same on a Cavaliers team that is hoping it will win its second title in franchise history in 2026.
He theoretically would be able to join the Cavaliers without anyone else’s role getting majorly altered either, as he could jump in and play the role that guard Ty Jerome did for the team in the 2024-25 season as an excellent bench scorer.