Winners and losers from the Detroit Pistons 2022 preseason

Detroit Pistons preseason loser: Saddiq Bey

Saddiq Bey led the Pistons in scoring in the preseason with 16.3 a game and added 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists, pretty much right on pace with his numbers from last year.

Unfortunately, he also carried in last year’s shooting numbers, as he hit just 29 percent from 3-point range and 36 percent overall.

It’s just preseason of course, but I was hoping for signs that Bey had turned the corner as a shooter and had a clear role heading into the season, but now there might be more questions than answers.

The first is: What does Saddiq Bey do well? He’s not been a great volume 3-point shooter and his dribble game is below average. He isn’t a great defender and there is now a huge question of how he fits defensively with a guy like Bojan Bogdanovic. If the Pistons had a wing stopper and Bey could defend power forwards exclusively, I’d be more comfortable, but him on the wing with Bojan could be a disaster defensively.

The second is: What is his role in the offense? He needs to be a Klay Thompson catch-and-shoot volume 3-point guy, but he has been mostly all or nothing so far in his short career, putting up a big game and then disappearing for several. He’s trying to be a 3-level scorer but it’s never going to work until teams actually have to respect his 3-point shot, as he does not have the speed to blow by people.

This is a huge year for Bey, as he is extension eligible next offseason so could be in for a big payday if he gets better, but could be out of the long-term plans if he doesn’t. The Pistons can’t afford to overpay for a role player, so this is the year Bey has to show he is a real NBA starter and not just a guy who got the job because he’s on a lousy team.

Is Bey a starter on a good team or a role player? We didn’t learn much from the preseason, so Bey has to turn the corner in the regular season and earn that big raise.