LAKERS OFFSEASON NO LEBRON JAMES BIG BOARD: #13 SADDIQ BEY

WRITTEN + EDITED BY JORDYN BONTRAGER

Are we the only ones baffled by the fact that Saddiq Bey only just turned 27 at the start of April? For whatever reason, it feels like Bey has been around the block much longer than the literal handful of campaigns he has registered in Detroit, Atlanta, and now New Orleans. Perhaps that feeling of puzzlement has something to do with the 6’8” bruiser being sidelined for the entirety of the ‘24-’25 szn after tearing his ACL.

Even furthermore puzzling are the pondering thoughts that arise pertaining to how such a constantly productive modern day wing hears not even the slightest of whispers when it comes to his name and the showering of praises that are typically flung in the direction of Bey’s prototype from the mouths of the mainstream media. That was a helluva compound sentence, but read back through it twice more and let the wave of clarity wash you away.

The former Villanova Wildcat was the Pelicans’ 3rd best player from a perspective of + / - this year, funny because Bey and the two rookie rockstars who finished above him in that aforementioned + / - rodeo were the only real silver linings from yet another lost season in the Big Easy. Think back to the multi-team mega move which also saw Jordan Poole come + CJ McCollum go, and there were no conversations highlighting Bey’s inclusion. Snap back to our current reality, and most discussions brought to light detailing Bey’s name have featured fondness of the sturdy swingman’s potential as a microwave bench scorer whom a staff can trust as a source of stability across literally all dimensions of the game.

When it comes to contract bargains, the roughly $6.3M’s Bey tallied this season was among the association’s most awfully under-gauged given his undeniably overachieving statistical output: 72 GAMES | 64 STARTS | 31.2 MPG | career-high 17.7 PPG | 5.6 RPG | 2.5 APG vs 0.9 TOPG | 0.9 SPG | 45.1% FG | 36.7% 3FG | 84.1% FT. With that puny price tag set to come off the books at next season’s end for a New Orleans team most likely looking forward to another season of mediocrity, there should not be a single contender not circling the southern skies in the sweepstakes for Bey’s impending services.

The Lakers will surely seek to retain Rui Hachimura this summer, but if any forks come to fruition in his road back to LA you already know Rob Pelinka will have contingency combo forward plans in place. From Saddiq’s expiring deal to his subliminally solid, natural scoring at all levels within the flow of the game all the way over to the hard-nosed hustle he exudes defensively, there may not be a stronger contingency candidate for the Lakers to monitor across the entire canvas of the league. That bargain bin salary figure means Pelinka may be able to get the pens to paper on this one via some sort of outgoing package featuring draft compensation and some permutation of either Jake LaRavia (salaries match straight up) and/or Dalton Knecht ($4.2 milli) + his 2024 draft-class mate Bronny James ($2.3 milli).

This might all be construed as contingent, but in a perfect world these contingency plans involving Bey’s arrival to the fold coincide with Hachimura’s return to the fray.