Heat Linked to 23-Year-Old Scorer in Latest Trade Chatter

Getty Saddiq Bey attempts a layup during a game between the Detroit Pistons and the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat‘s 2022-23 campaign continues to be a frustrating one-step-forward, two-steps-back proposition. Despite Bam Adebayo and Max Strus scoring more points than ever before and Caleb Martin playing career-best ball, inconsistency on both ends and an injury to Jimmy Butler have conspired to keep the club down.

Entering Tuesday nights’ games, Miami ranked in the bottom five league-wide in offensive rating (109.1) and rebounding percentage (48.9). And while the team is only conceding 110.8 points per 100 possessions — the No. 7 mark in the Association — there are problems on the defensive end, too.

Seeing as how the Heat were supposed to be in the title conversation again this season, the freefall down to 10th place in the East (at 13-15) has fans, pundits and reporters alike discussing the team’s trade possibilities.

To that end, a new name just entered the fray as a potential target for Pat Riley and Co.

Another Pistons Player Mentioned as a Heat Target

On Monday, The Athletic‘s James Edwards III broke down a number of trade scenarios for the Detroit Pistons based on intel that he had gathered. And the Heat received a mention in the report as a team that could make a play for big man Nerlens Noel.

Shortly after that story began making the rounds, Heat reporter Adam Borai linked another Pistons player to the South Beach crew. Namely, third-year forward Saddiq Bey.

“Have heard for a few weeks now that there is some interest from Miami [in Bey],” tweeted Borai. “There was also interest on draft day a few years ago.”

For his part, Edwards noted in his piece that Bey “may be gettable at the right price,” although he couldn’t quite discern what the right price would be, especially with the 23-year-old struggling to shoot the ball this season. Regardless, Borai likes Bey as a match for Miami.

“Saddiq feels like the exact type of player the Heat should be targeting,” he added. “The Heat & Pistons have had conversations about a few players over the last year so it’s not difficult to imagine that there would be some rapport there already.”

Bey’s Perimeter Offense Has Tailed Off Significantly

As a rookie during the 2020-21 campaign, Bey bore the look of one of the league’s next great sharpshooters. It basically took the COVID-19 pandemic reducing the length of the schedule to keep him from breaking Donovan Mitchell’s rookie three-point record of 187.

Bey finished with 175 long-range makes while playing nine fewer games than Mitchell did in 2017-18 with the Jazz, and he was bagging 2.5 triples per game.

Alas, after shooting 38% from deep that year, Bey dropped to 34.6% in 2021-22 and now he’s at a woeful 29.9% in ’22-23. He has been particularly bad when under any kind of duress, connecting at just a 16.7% clip when defenders are within six feet of him.

That said, things haven’t been all bad for Bey. His shooting percentages within three feet of the hoop (64.6) and from 3-to-10 feet out (43.4) will be career-best numbers if they hold. His free throw rate of .368 per FG attempt represents a seismic leap over previous years, too.

It’s not hard to envision a spike in production occurring if he could take that improved inside game to Miami, where he may also find himself with more clean/open opportunities from deep than he’s currently getting in Detroit.