Boston Celtics 2020 NBA Draft Profile: Saddiq Bey
By Ian Riaf
Weaknesses
Lateral quickness
Bey’s footspeed is something many NBA scouts have critiqued him on.
It’s pushed his draft stock back towards the late-lottery as he may not be an NBA caliber athlete yet.
While athleticism isn’t something that many players develop overnight, a primary point of emphasis if the Boston Celtics take him at the 14th spot would be to build up his east-west game on both sides of the floor.
Big East guards were continuously able to shake Bey and then keep him on their hip during rim attacks. He also struggled to guard the ball handler in pick and roll action.
While his footwork isn’t as fluid as Jayson Tatum‘s coming out of the 2017 NBA Draft, the Celtics did a fantastic job of developing him into one of the best defenders in the league, something they could possibly emphasize with Bey if they selected him at the 14th spot.
Lack of explosiveness
Bey’s lack of explosiveness, however, is more visible on the offensive side of the floor.
On his drives to the rim, Bey reverts to a more methodical style of play rather than finesse. He has shown the ability to hit difficult shots and create for himself off the dribble, but these shots come from a healthy diet of post-ups, turnarounds, and fadeaways rather than just straight rim attacks.
While he is undoubtedly fast in a straight line, at the present time he plays with more of a Kyle Anderson-esque cadence on his drives to the rim.
The Boston Celtics may need Bey to be a perimeter threat at the moment, but if he wants to take that next step, they will need to get him up to speed with his decision making off the catch.
Strength at the NBA level
To some, Saddiq Bey may be viewed as a plug and play NBA stretch four but, at the moment, he’d likely downsize as he is closer to being more of a big two or three, somewhere along the lines of Danny Green.
During his final season, Bey was more involved guarding players out on the perimeter than down in the post (only 6.3 percent of his defensive possessions).
Against smaller opponents, Bey was very adept at getting to his spots, but that’s the issue: he is certainly capable of defending post players, but this was not his primary responsibility.
A lot of his matchups on both sides of the floor lacked size. However, it was not necessarily his fault as he was assigned to guard these shifty ball handlers, That said, players are faster and stronger at the NBA level and Bey may be caught in the middle when it comes to who he guards out of the gate.