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Pistons’ Malik Beasley Gets Runner-Up for NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year

Malik Beasley will not be recognized as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.
Justin Grasso|
Mar 30, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley (5) reacts during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Mar 30, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley (5) reacts during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

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Detroit Pistons

Late last week, the NBA revealed the three finalists for the Sixth Man of the Year award. Detroit Pistons veteran Malik Beasley was in the running.

Although Beasley had a strong case, he came up short. On Tuesday night, the NBA announced that Beasley would be the runner-up to Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard.

According to the NBA, Pritchard dominated with 82 first-place votes, which equal five points for each vote. Beasley had 13, with Cleveland’s Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter each getting two votes. Minnesota’s Naz Reid picked up one of his own.

Beasley collected the most second-place votes with 66. Overall, Beasley had 279 points, while Prtichard had 454. Jerome, Hunter, Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Russell Westbrook, and Alex Caruso were the others in the running.

This season, Pritchard produced 14 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 41 percent from three. He also came down with four rebounds per outing and dished out four assists. He averaged 28 minutes of action in 80 games, playing for the second-seeded Celtics.

As for Beasley, he played all 82 games this season. Seeing the court for roughly the same amount of time as Pritchard, Beasley hit on 43 percent of his shots and 42 percent of his threes to score 16 points per game. He also averaged three rebounds and two assists throughout the year.

The Pistons signed Beasley during the 2024 offseason after his lone year with the Milwaukee Bucks. While Beasley was viewed as a veteran sharpshooter who could help unlock Cade Cunningham’s game, Beasley ended up being a critical rotational piece for the Pistons’ surprisingly successful season.

Beasley’s 2024-2025 campaign won’t end with the Sixth Man of the Year award, but he’ll go down as the 2025 runner-up after a strong regular season.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia

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