Portland Trail Blazers draft profile – Saddiq Bey
Chris Phillips
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PNWS tips off our series on Portland Trail Blazers’ potential 2020 first-round draft picks. Today it’s Villanova sophomore forward Saddiq Bey.
The 2020 NBA Draft will be interesting because it lacks the depth and high-end talent from the past several years. This year the Portland Trail Blazers have the 16th overall pick. Currently, the league is holding a virtual combine for prospects. It will run through mid-November, wrapping up a few days before Draft Day on November 18.
Today we look at Saddiq Bey from Villanova. The 6-8 forward left the Wildcats program after his sophomore season for the NBA. Last year, he put up some impressive numbers for the Big East Co-Regular Season champions. Bey averaged 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.8 steals per game, on 47.7 percent from the floor and 45.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Pros
Bey is at his best with either the catch and shoot or utilizing his dribble to get space for his shot. He knows how to use his strength on smaller/weaker defenders, like when he dropped 33 points on an injury-depleted Georgetown Hoyas team, January 11.
Some experts project Bey as a spacing three-point specialist and secondary scoring option. This sounds like music to my ears as the Blazers already have Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum as the team’s top two scoring options.
Cons
Unfortunately, Bey isn’t an elite athlete. His physical limitations are evident on video.
The Largo, Maryland native struggles to score in traffic. Bey lacks creativity when driving the lane. Most of his drives are in a straight line, with a stop then a “GPS recalculating” over to a new direction. This also leads to him struggling to score in traffic.
Defensively, his poor foot speed and lack of lateral mobility cause him to get beat off the dribble. Even with his superior positioning, he doesn’t rack up a lot of steals and blocks.
Verdict
Most scouts rank Bey as the fourth-ranked small forward in the draft. He may struggle defensively at that position. A “small” forward like LeBron James may not be able to muscle by Bey, but James’ combination of speed and strength can get by Bey. Other NBA threes can probably get by him with their quickness as well. I think he’ll be fine in spurts at this position. Power forward may be a better fit for him in the NBA.
If Bey is available to the Portland Trail Blazers, they need to take him. This team is built to win now, but they are thin at forward. He could easily come to Rip City and become an impact player. Also, Bey could be a nice replacement for Trevor Ariza if his legal issues don’t clear up, or the team passes on its option to resign the veteran.
“Villanova products have a reputation of producing straight away at the next level, which adds to the intrigue for a team still looking to win now.” – NBC Sports Bob Schaefer.
Saddiq Bey should be the Portland Trail Blazers top choice on Draft Night unless James Wiseman falls to them.