After trading Isaiah Stewart this summer, the Detroit Pistons no longer have any players from the group Troy Weaver once dubbed the “Core 4.”
It seems laughable now, as that group consisted of Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, and Saben Lee.
Weaver thought he had the foundation of his team back in 2020, even once comparing them to the Yankees (HA!), but little did he know that the cornerstone of his team was yet to join the roster.
So, what happened to the OG “Core 4” and why didn’t it work out in Detroit?
Saben Lee was not an NBA player
Saben Lee was great in the G-League but wasn’t quite an NBA player, though he did have some moments that made him a fan favorite.
He is currently playing for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League, though he did bounce around after the Pistons traded him to Utah as part of the Bojan Bogdanovic deal.
Lee had short stints with the 76ers, Suns and the Raptors G-League affiliate before playing for a string of teams overseas.
The Pistons thought they had their starting point guard and his backup, but they were wrong.
Killian Hayes still can’t shoot
Hayes is another player who has shown he can dominate G-League competition but not so much in the NBA.
Hayes has had runs with several teams now and is currently looking for a job, which he’ll probably get at some point when some team gets desperate or wants to fill out their two-way deals.
He still can’t shoot, and even though he’s still only 25 years old, he’s probably running out of chances.
Saddiq Bey should still be in Detroit
Saddiq Bey has proven himself to be a useful rotation guy after he was traded from Detroit in a deal that landed James Wiseman.
It was a bad trade then and looks even worse now, as Wiseman is out of the league, and Bey is fresh off the best season of his career for the Pelicans. Ironically, Bey is now playing for the same GM that didn’t extend him in Detroit, and the same situation is brewing again.
I understand why the Pistons didn’t want to pay Bey at the time, as he wanted more than he was probably worth, but it's also possible that deal would still look like a bargain by today’s rates, as Bey averaged nearly 18 points per game last season.
It wasn’t a killer for Detroit by any means, but even the trade Atlanta eventually received for Bey was better than the return the Pistons got.
Isaiah Stewart will be missed
I won’t rehash the whole Beef Stew saga except to say that he’ll be missed, and it did seem a little cold the way the Pistons just salary dumped him to Memphis for nothing. But at least he landed in a place with fans that will appreciate his style of play.
Stewart and Bey are the last two standing from the OG “Core 4”, and both have proven to be productive role players, and in Stewart’s case, a player who helped drag the Pistons out of the abyss.
The dissipation of the “Core 4” shows exactly how quickly things can change in the NBA and how predictions and hope don’t always work out.
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