Saddiq Bey has become one of those players whose career keeps taking sharp, unexpected turns, and his latest move only adds to the oddness of the whole path.
It’s been just six years since he entered the NBA, and while he has never climbed much higher than dependable role-player status, the swings around him have been anything but ordinary. The biggest recent twist came after Washington signed him to a multi-year deal while he was working through negotiations with a torn ACL. Not long after that, the Wizards shipped him to the New Orleans Pelicans last summer with Jordan Poole, and now Bey has already turned that change of scenery into a three-year, $55 million extension that runs through 2030.
For Washington, that makes the whole sequence look even stranger in hindsight. Bey’s value has clearly held up. He’s been productive in New Orleans, and he’s done it in a way that made the Wizards’ decision to move on from him feel more complicated than it looked at the time.
His numbers with the Pelicans tell part of the story: 17.7 points per game, 45.1% shooting from the field and 36.7% from three. That’s strong enough production to justify the kind of money he’s about to make, and it’s enough to leave some Washington fans wondering whether the Wizards squeezed everything they could out of his value.
Still, the larger chain of moves matters too. Bey and Poole went to New Orleans in the deal that sent CJ McCollum elsewhere, and McCollum later became part of a move that brought Trae Young to Atlanta. The Hawks, another former Bey stop, ended up helping Washington’s broader reshuffle by dealing away one of the league’s top distributors after the Wizards had moved off Bey’s contract and upside.
There’s also the emotional side of it for some D.C. fans. Bey spent the entire 2024-25 season on the Wizards’ bench, waiting for a hometown debut that never happened.
Even so, he seems to have landed in a good place. Washington, though, probably isn’t sitting around wishing for a reunion.
The contract itself is not exactly pocket change. Bey is expected to make a little over $18 million per year, and the trade kicker hanging over the deal doesn’t change the fact that he’s earned a serious payday. Bilal Coulibaly is projected for a similar figure, but he still hasn’t shown the same mix of physical scoring and quick-trigger shooting that Bey brings.
That offensive package is only part of why the Pelicans liked what they got. Bey also gave them useful defense, and that two-way ability is exactly the sort of thing the Wizards still need as they look toward 2026-27. Even with plenty of depth on hand, Washington could always use more players who can affect both ends.
If Bey had stayed in Washington, the path wasn’t especially clear anyway. He wouldn’t have been starting ahead of AJ Dybantsa and Kyshawn George, which would have left him in a wing rotation that already includes Coulibaly, Will Riley, Khris Middleton and Justin Champagnie. With the Wizards still collecting young pieces and trying to sort out their future, a veteran wing on a pricey deal would have complicated the picture.
So while the transaction may look strange on paper, Washington may be comfortable with how it played out. Bey’s new deal in New Orleans will look like a major win for him if he keeps producing, but the Wizards’ side of the story is tied to the larger opportunity his value helped create.
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