Philadelphia 76ers: Saddiq Bey a reported target in a Ben Simmons trade

According to The Athletic, there are “at least 30 players” the Philadelphia 76ers would like to target in a trade for Ben Simmons.

On paper, that makes sense. Even if you’re the biggest Simmons hater this side of that dude who got hit-and-run’d while calling into WIP, he unquestionably has the resume of a top-30 player in the NBA today and could surely be sold rather easily to a fanbase looking for a change because of his defensive acumen and hypothetical developmental upside.

Well, add the Detroit Pistons to the list of teams interested in doing just that, as according to Keith Pompey, discussions have been had centering around reacquiring one-time Process player Jerami Grant, who has admittedly transformed into a pretty darn good NBA player.

But nestled away in that article (read it here), which also discusses Daryl Morey‘s undying desire to acquire James Harden, was a fun little nugget for fans of the Philadelphia 76ers to parse through while they watch the team play the actual Nuggets in Denver; Philly wants to bring Saddiq Bey back to the Mainline.

Could the Philadelphia 76ers bring Saddiq Bey back to his adoptive home?

If the 2020 NBA Draft was held again today, on its one-year anniversary, Saddiq Bey probably wouldn’t be a member of the Detroit Pistons.

No, after coming out of the gates as a rookie with the polish of a grizzled vet, Bey would have likely been selected well before 19th overall, with a forward-needy lottery team like the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, or Pheonix Suns surely opting to add him to their roster instead of players like Onyeka Okongwu, Obi Toppin, or Jalen Smtih.

Despite being drafted 12 picks later, Bey clearly outplayed the Pistons’ first pick in the draft, French point guard Killian Hayes – who Kevin O’Conner at The Ringer dubbed his top player in the draft – and made a strong push for Rookie of the Year, even if he was ultimately outplayed by players like Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, and eventual ROTY winner LaMelo Ball.

But hey, it’s cool; Bey has taken his game up a notch so far this season, even if his 3 point shooting percentage is down, and has formed a fierce one-two forward punch alongside Jeremi Grant for Dwane Casey’s 4-10 Pistons.

So far this season, the Philadelphia 76ers have played the Pistons twice. They’ve unsurprisingly won both contests, outscoring their Midwestern counterparts 219-200, and just generally dominated a squad that is a few years away from contention, assuming players like Bey, Hayes, and 2021 first overall pick Cade Cunningham can grow together into a strong core.

Enter William Daryl Morey – yes, Daryl is his middle name – who sort of has a thing for poaching off young players from teams before they fully become household names.

While many, if not most fans have latched onto the attention-grabbing headline of Keith Pompey’s story about Jerami Grant (and James Harden) being on the Sixers’ list, the team’s interest in Bey makes a ton of sense too, as he’s an East Coast prospect who comes from a winning program, and knows a thing or two about playing in the City of Brotherly Love.

A two-year performer for Jay Wright at Villanova, Bey entered the 2020 NBA draft as one of the more polished 3-and-D forwards in his class. He hit 45.1 percent of his shots from beyond the arc in 2019-20 on 5.6 attempts per game, played strong positional defense for the Wildcats, and, despite entering the NBA at the old age of 21, still had enough upside to keep talent evaluators excited about his future.

Really, the only aspect of his game that some scouts knocked coming off the Mainline was his athleticism, which isn’t like, Boban Marjanovic bad – no offense, Bobi – but is just average for a modern-day NBA forward. Is Bey going to make anyone forget about his Detroit teammate Hamidou Diallo anytime soon? No, but there’s a reason Bey plays 32.5 minutes a night, and it’s not his 6-foot-11 wingspan.

… it’s because he’s a much better two-way player if that wasn’t clear.

If he were inserted onto the Sixers’ roster today alongside Grant, just for argument’s sake, Bey would likely start out his time as the Sixers’ first forward coming off the bench and would play anywhere from 20-30 minutes of action a night, depending on the situation. He wouldn’t be the Sixers’ new closer, as Grant is far better suited for that role based on his clutch stats over the last two years, but could become a fixture of the team’s end-of-game lineups, where two-way players are worth their weight in gold.

All in all, not too shabby. While Bey may never become an All-Star, if he continues to progress with each passing season, he could ultimately have a career very similar to another player who once called Detroit home, Tobias Harris, even if he’d be hard-pressed to secure the same max contract that Torrel Harris secured for his son.

But before we leave this topic entirely, one more question has to be asked: Should the Philadelphia 76ers actually do a deal centered around Bey, Grant, another player – Pompey mentioned Kelly Olynyk – and a draft pick? No.

I know, talk about burying the lead, but I just don’t like the deal all that much, and, to their credit, neither do the Pistons, who rebuffed any deal centered around Bey or Olynik. Personally, I’d rather see the Sixers identify a player who splits the difference between Grant and Bey, in that they are more established but still have the upside to become the dead-eyed scorer who complements Tyrese Maxey’s slashing and Joel Embiid’s dominant post presence.

Neither Grant nor Bey is that player, and, as the Ben Simmons situation has shown us, roster composition is almost as important as talent acquisition.

One day, Daryl Morey will trade Ben Simmons. One day, we’ll be free from this constant stream of leaks, and Philadelphia will become a healthier, less anxious place. But until that day comes, it’s becoming very hard to see the forest through the trees. Still, as we sit stranded in a land of confusion, it’s interesting to learn that about new potential suitors for the Southern Hemisphere’s defensive unicorn, even if no deal appears anywhere close to imminent. *sigh* but alas, this is the world we live in.