The Detroit Pistons have a pair of ascending rookies in Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart.
Bey has already solidified himself as one of the best rookie 3-point shooters of all time, and Stewart has been a plus defender and rebounder who is showing improved range of his own.
Since both were picked outside of the lottery and could end up in the top-ten in Rookie of the Year voting, it’s safe to say that Troy Weaver did a good job finding talent later in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft.
Player comparisons are really just for fun, as no two players are alike and fans often make these comps based on how someone looks or superficial similarities with their game.
We were tasked with coming up for some comparisons for Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart so we chose three different categories: Old School, Modern and Pistons.
So without further delay, here are three pairs of players that remind us of the Pistons’ rookies. These would all be best-case scenarios and that would delight fans of the Detroit Pistons so don’t expect any of them to be of the “humble” variety.
Detroit Pistons: Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart- old school comparisons
Ron Artest and Horace Grant
When I think of players who are no longer in the game, there are a few who are similar to what we are seeing out of Bey and Stewart, but I see a lot of Ron Artest (aka Metta World Peace aka Metta Sandiford-Artest) and Horace Grant.
People unfortunately remember Metta Sandiford-Artest for his role in the Malice in the Palace but prior to that he was one of the best all-around forwards in the league. He was a big, tough defender who could guard just about anyone on the floor, could knock down shots from long-range and played with an edge.
Remind you of anyone? Saddiq Bey has many of these same qualities. He and Artest are virtually the same size, can defend all over the floor and Bey is already a knock-down 3-point shooter. Artest also had a mid-range and post element to his game that Bey is still developing, but it is not hard to see him adding more nuance to his offensive game.
Sandiford-Artest was an All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defense while also winning Defensive Player of the Year, so if Bey ends up there defensively the Pistons will be ecstatic.
Isaiah Stewart came into the NBA thought of as a defensive specialist who could be a plus defender and rebounder but not much else. He has been adding a jump shot and passing to his game and now his ceiling has to be recalibrated.
Could he end up being a dual threat like Horace Grant? Grant was one of the best all-around forwards of his day, but also came into the league as a defensive-minded player with a limited offensive game.
Grant just kept adding range to his jumper and eventually was money from 15-18 feet and a beast in the pick-and-roll. I could eventually see Stewart getting there, especially if he can continue to knock down shots from long-range.