Detroit Pistons: December 16th may be magic date for Saddiq Bey

It’s been a tough season for Saddiq Bey of the Detroit Pistons.

He’s putting up the worst numbers of his short career, got moved to the bench and has even been mentioned in trade rumors, which seemed unthinkable coming into the season.

Consistency has been an issue for Bey, especially from long range, as he has been one of the streakiest shooters in the league in his 2+ seasons in the league.

Last season was the same for Bey, as he started slow but then had a couple of hot streaks that balanced out his numbers overall. It really all started to turn around for Bey on December 16th of last season, as he broke out of his slump, then shot 37 percent from 3-point range for the rest of the season on over eight attempts per game.

There are signs that it is happening again, as Saddiq Bey is suddenly shooting the ball well from 3-point range, including last night, when he dropped 28 points on the Magic and hit 6-of-11 from long range.

It’s starting to look like the middle of December is a time of rebirth for Bey, who has been heating up of late.

Detroit Pistons: Saddiq Bey starting to play his role

Last season Saddiq Bey started by trying to add to his offensive game. He was posting up more, taking more shots off the bounce, seemingly not content to be the catch-and-shoot specialist he was thought to be after his rookie season.

We saw more of the same this season, as Bey seemed reluctant to shoot from range at times, was dribbling the ball more and taking more shots from the paint and mid-range.

Bey can be that guy at times, but he has to work hard to get it and often ends up taking shots that most teams are happy to let him have. He’s at his most dangerous (and valuable) for the Detroit Pistons when he is shooting volume 3-point shots and making them.

That’s been happening since December 16th, as Bey has shot 42.9 percent from 3-point range since then on five attempts per game. His overall attempts have been down since he’s been coning off the bench, but more than half of them have been from 3-point range.

I’d like to see that percentage go up even more, but hopefully Bey is starting to realize that he is most valuable to this team when he creates space with his 3-point shooting, something that will be even truer when Cade Cunningham returns.

Saddiq Bey is starting to show signs of becoming the player the Detroit Pistons need  him to be, but we’ll need a few more weeks to see if this is a permanent shift or just another hot streak.