Detroit Pistons: The argument for moving Saddiq Bey to the bench

Detroit Pistons: Saddiq Bey could thrive as a 6th Man

There is a long history of teams moving one of their best players to the bench, the most recent example being Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat, whose production and minutes actually increased when he move to the bench full time.

Herro is playing big minutes and out there during clutch-time, and the same could be true for Bey as a 6th man.

Moving Bey to the bench would allow him to be the primary scorer for a unit that currently lacks any scoring at all. His ability to get to the rim and get his own shot would be more beneficial as the primary guy than with two ball-dominant guards and Bogdanovic.

Bey’s current effective FG percentage of 54.8 is the highest of his career and he’s shooting 55.6 percent from 2-point range, also a career high. While this will almost certainly dip at some point, Bey is showing the ability to post up and get to the rim. He is making a high percentage of them and also getting to the line a lot, so he could be more useful as the primary scorer off the bench than the 4th option with the starters.

This would give the bench a legit scoring threat and could lead to more shot attempts for Bey that are currently going to guys like Killian Hayes and Hamidou Diallo, who have been broke. Having someone on the bench who can actually score would help the guys in the second unit as well.

People often get too worked up about who starts and who doesn’t, but the truth is that Bey could have a more meaningful role off the bench, still play big minutes and still be out there to close out games.