Saddiq Bey’s new extension in New Orleans is the kind of move that instantly drags Troy Weaver’s old habits back into the spotlight.
The Pelicans gave the former Piston a 3-year, $55 million deal on Thursday night, rewarding him after a career-best season in which he averaged nearly 18 points per game. Bey put up solid numbers, but the contract still landed like an overpay - especially because the guy writing the check is Weaver, the former Detroit GM who is now back with Bey in New Orleans.
That reunion tells you a lot. Weaver never exactly built a reputation for being careful with contracts or asset management in Detroit, and he also had a clear tendency to value players from the DMV area, where Bey went to high school. That same instinct appears to be following him to his new job.
To be fair, Bey did have a strong year. He shot 45% from the field and 37% from three while creating plenty of his own offense.
That matters, and the Pistons understand better than most how valuable self-created scoring can be when the games get tighter. The catch is that Bey still hasn’t had a postseason stage to show how that skill translates when everything is locked down.
New Orleans wasn’t anywhere close to that stage last season anyway. The Pelicans finished 11 games behind the 10-seed Warriors and never even got into the Play-In picture. Bey’s scoring didn’t exactly move the needle enough to change that, and his familiar shortcomings in playmaking and defense still capped how much he could actually help.
That’s why the price feels so steep. In this cap environment, most teams would look at those flaws and land much lower on the salary scale.
Bey’s contract will pay him more per year, and include more guarantees, than Duncan Robinson’s current deal. Robinson has offered more value as a spacer, has shown more defensive effort, and has already been part of winning environments, including the Pistons last season and two separate Finals runs with the Heat.
And this isn’t even the only eyebrow-raising decision New Orleans has made this offseason. The Pelicans’ summer has already been filled with strange choices, which doesn’t help the image of Weaver and head of basketball operations Joe Dumars. Both men also spent time in management roles with the Pistons during the franchise’s worst-ever seasons.
Detroit’s situation, at least, looks more measured. The Pistons can afford to avoid forcing a major move and simply see how far a young core coming off a 60-win season can go. New Orleans doesn’t have that luxury with a 26-win roster, yet the Pelicans still don’t seem to be operating with a clear patient plan.
That’s the old Weaver problem in a nutshell. He trusts his own guys too much, and when he finally acts, the move can be either too cautious or too aggressive.
It hurt the Pistons for years. Now it’s New Orleans dealing with the fallout from Bey’s big new deal.
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So much of the conversation now turns to internal growth, with Daniss Jenkins, Ausar Thompson and Kevin Huerter among the players asked to do more than they have before. If that group can help stabilize the half-court offense, Detroits ceiling rises with it. If not, the Pistons could find themselves looking for another answer before the season is done, because spacing alone will not solve a postseason offense that still needs more than one reliable engine. [Read more 🡒]