The Detroit Pistons need Saddiq Bey to make a leap as a player this season for them to reach their goal of being a competitive team at this stage of the rebuild.
Bey has shown promise in his first two seasons as a guy who can be a high-volume and accurate 3-point shooter, though his numbers did dip in season two. He still has too many “all or nothing” games when he is either red hot from long range or can’t hit anything.
We’ve seen Bey work on being a three-level scorer, which would be great, but for that to happen he first needs to be good enough from beyond the arc to open up his drives, as he does not have the speed to blow by people on the wing.
The Pistons need Bey to be a 40 percent 3-point shooter who can stretch the floor, create space and take advantage of two guards who will draw in defenses and can get him the ball in his spots.
In other words, the Detroit Pistons need Saddiq Bey to be their Klay Thompson. Though there are some differences in their games, there is plenty from Thompson’s game that Bey can emulate this season for the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit Pistons: Saddiq Bey needs to summon his inner Klay Thompson
To say it would be nice for Bey to evolve into Klay Thompson is one of the biggest “no s***” comments of all time, as Thompson is one of the NBA’s greatest shooters, an efficient scoring machine who also happens to be able to defend his position.
But there are some similarities. Neither guy is a speed demon and both are kind of in between positions. Both guys averaged 12 and 16 points in their first two seasons, though Thompson was much-more efficient, shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range.
Bey doesn’t have to suddenly morph into a historically good shooter, but there are some things he can learn offensively by watching Thompson.
Be decisive and ready to shoot
Thompson has one of the quickest and most flawless releases you will ever see and is always ready to let it fly. He doesn’t hesitate when he gets the ball and is very decisive, whether it’s a catch-and-shoot or drive to the rim or mid-range.
But it all starts with the 3-point shot, as defenses have to respect that Klay is going to launch it and doesn’t need much of a window to do it. This makes him seem much quicker than he is sometimes, as defenses know they have to close out fast, which allows him to blow by guys when they close out recklessly.
Bey often hesitates with the ball and allows the defender to get on him instead of just shooting it. Once the defender is up on him, Bey doesn’t have the quickness to blow by many guys, so ends up backing down and using his strength. This would be even more effective if he shot first and drove only as a second option as Thompson does.
Bey should be looking to shoot first and everything else should be an afterthought.
Stop dribbling
Thompson famously scored 60 points in a game in which he only took 11 dribbles, possibly the most efficient shooting performance of all-time.
Even when Thompson does dribble, it’s often just enough to get him a window to shoot, and he will dribble to the side instead of inside the 3-point line and into the defense. At times, he Thompson even does it without dribbling, moving to the side as he is catching the ball, which go es him just enough space to get the shot off.
Far too often, Saddiq Bey takes two or three dribbles right into the defense after passing up an open shot. This is pretty much exactly what every defense wants, as he is now in an inefficient scoring spot and the defender doesn’t have to worry much about being beaten off the dribble.
I don’t know how many times I’ve screamed “JUST SHOOT IT” at Bey, which is something you never have to yell at Thompson. For Klay, everything plays off his ability to hit 3-point shots, so even one step to the side is often enough to dismiss a defender who has to close out at full speed to try and stop or alter his shot.
I’d love to see Bey do this more often, as once defenders start really respecting the 3-pointer, things will open up for him more in the mid-range as they do for Thompson, who really only dribbles inside of the 3-point line when the defender has gone flying by.
We saw Bey do this at times, particularly in his 51 point effort against the Magic, where he wasn’t hesitating to shoot 3’s, which inevitably opened other options for him as the game went on:
Bey’s shot will never be as quick or pretty as Thompson’s (few are) but he can be more decisive, build off the 3-point shot, cut down on the unnecessary dribbling in an effort be more efficient.