Detroit Pistons: Who has a higher ceiling, Saddiq Bey or Isaiah Stewart?
By Jacob Warfle
Detroit Pistons: The case for Saddiq Bey
The case for Saddiq Bey is easy. The NBA is, now more than an ever, a perimeter players’ league. When given opportunity, Bey has dominated from the perimeter.
Coming out of Villanova, we knew that Bey is the type of shooter you look for in the draft, but even he has blown those expectations out of the water.
Missing only two games so far, Bey’s season long per game averages are 11.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. Post All-Star break these numbers are only increasing: 13.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.
It has been widely reported that he is one of the best rookie three point shooters of all time. Bey has already broken the single season record for threes made in a season by a Detroit Piston and is closing in on the NBA record.
As it currently stands, Bey has 155 made three’s this season, he’s now just 32 away from tying Donovan Mitchell. Looking through the list, Bey finds himself up there with the likes of Damian Lillard, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, and Allen Iverson, all while playing fewer games with it being a shortened NBA season.
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Bey also now has a 11 games this season with five or more made threes, breaking the record held by Allen Iverson and Stephen Curry. Listening to Bey talk about these records, it seems as though he doesn’t know they are being broken until someone informs him. He just keeps his head down and plays basketball.
This going to work mentality has allowed for him to fit in almost immediately in Detroit. Coming over in a slightly controversial trade, Bey is already a step above the player he was dealt for, fan favorite Luke Kennard.
Elite shooting is something that is hard to develop. With shooting seemingly already in place, Bey can focus on developing other parts of his game this offseason: playmaking and getting to the line.
For most of this season, Bey has been relegated to the spot-up shooting role, shown by his low assist numbers. To go from just an interesting prospect to a potential All-Star, he will need to add more to his bag on the offensive end. This will hopefully lead to more free throw attempts.
As it currently stands, Bey is only attempting two free throws per game. If he can get this number up to match some of the elite wings in the league, we could see his points per game close to the 20’s in just a few years.