As the Pistons brighten their future, they need more than a superstar in Cade Cunningham. They need the players around him to shine. Cunningham stuffed the stat sheet in typical fashion Monday against the Thunder -- 21 points, 11 boards, 7 assists -- and it wouldn’t have mattered if not for Saddiq Bey, whose 25 points rallied the Pistons to a much-needed win.
Bey won’t ever be a full-fledged star. But he’s becoming a darn good scorer in his third NBA season, the kind of second or third -- and sometimes first -- option that every team needs. On Monday he was clutch: 12 of his points came in the fourth to turn a one-point deficit into a nine-point win. So was he versatile: only one of his eight field goals for the game came from beyond the arc.
A pure shooter is growing, quite literally, into a three-level scorer.
“Just trying to stay aggressive and read the defense,” said Bey. “Early (in my career), they probably didn’t know I was shooting it and I had a lot more open shots my rookie year. Now it’s being able to mix it up. If they run me off the line, get to the rim or make a play for somebody else. Just trusting my game and taking what the defense gives me.”
Bey has always been burly, built from the bottom up. He looks brawny after another summer in the gym, chiseled with strength. The product is a player who can stand his ground among the trees. Bey is taking more twos than threes for the first time in his career.
He's shooting 57 percent inside the arc, compared to 45 percent his first two seasons. Not only that, he's converting at a career-high clip within three feet of the basket. He’s scored 20-plus in five of his first 11 games, and he’s done so despite a career-low mark from three. That should eventually fix itself.
“Ohhh, 25 piece,” said Isaiah Livers as Bey indulged a crowd of reporters after Monday’s win.
“I try to pride myself on being versatile," said Bey. "Trying to be fundamental, use angles, try to just finish and make plays for others. I’m comfortable with whatever the team needs from me.”
When Bey talks about being fundamental, he's talking mostly about his feet. His added strength gives him leverage down low. He knows how to create space in the first place because he spent two seasons under the tutelage of Jay Wright.
"He’s got that Villanova in his game," said Cade Cunningham. "He gets in the paint, bumps guys, plays off two, plays the right way as far as his pivot. His footwork is big-time."
Bey's craftiness helps him compensate for average athleticism. He has the Nova knack for getting defenders off balance, and now he has the muscle to finish more consistently through contact. Cunningham said the 6'8 Bey "gets and-1's in practices all the time." We're starting to see it in games, where Bey is asserting himself more often. He'd just as soon go scoreless in a win, but the Pistons have a hard time winning without him.
"Whenever he’s aggressive and he wants to go put the ball in the rim, he can get whatever he wants," said Cunningham. "Tonight he made up his mind on that. I think it’s just, he always wants to make the right play for us and be in the right role for us. One of the best teammates I’ve ever played with, as far as playing for the rest of the team.
"Tonight he felt like it was his time to be aggressive, and he stepped up."
Bey is averaging 17 points per game, an uptick from last season despite taking fewer shots. He has a career-high player efficiency rating. He's had two of his best games on two of his worst nights from three, a sign of a player pushing his ceiling higher.
The Pistons still have a ways to go. Bey will be the first to tell you they need to play better defense. But they also need go-getters next to Cunningham, and Bey is getting there one game at a time.
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