The Detroit Pistons’ Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart were voted to the NBA All-Rookie teams. Bey made the first team while Stewart got on the second team.
Entering the night of the 2020 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons only had one first-round draft choice, and with its pick, No. 7 overall, selected guard Killian Hayes.
However, general manager Troy Weaver swung two draft night deals for two first-rounders outside of the lottery picks. Those moves have now officially paid off.
Saddiq Bey, drafted 19th, has been named to the NBA All-Rookie first team, while Isaiah Stewart, a center, selected 16th overall, is on the second team.
Bey finished fourth in voting, with 162 points and 63 first-place votes. The only ones ahead of him were Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards and Sacramento’s Tyrese Haliburton. Stewart got eight first-place votes and finished eighth in voting with 71 points.
It is the first time Detroit has placed two players on the All-Rookie team since 2013, when Andre Drummond and Kyle Singler each made the second team.
In what might be a telling indictment of past Pistons drafts, Bey is the first player to make first team All-Rookie since Brandon Knight in 2012.
Bey, after a bit of a slow start, worked his way into the starting lineup at small forward following the trade of Blake Griffin. The 6-foot-8 Villanova product averaged 12.2 points and 4.5 rebounds on the season.
It was Bey’s three-point shooting prowess that made him stand out.
He made a rookie-leading 175 three-pointers and was named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 8, which included a league rookie record 7-for-7 shooting on three-pointers against Boston on February 12.
‘Beef Stew’ only started 14 games at center, mostly at the end of the season. However, he was able to average 7.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 21.4 minutes a game. Stewart led all rookies in offensive rebounds (2.3 per game), rebounding and blocks.
At 6-foot-8, Stewart was at a size disadvantage most of the time, but his hustle and toughness made up for the lack of height.
Hayes, who unlike Stewart and Bey was an opening day starter, missed three months due to a hip injury, so he was unable to play enough to earn any all-rookie votes.