Pelicans Have Fascinating Saddiq Bey Decision to Make at Trade Deadline

The New Orleans Pelicans' veteran forward has emerged as a high-level rotation piece who will draw a ton of interest on the trade market.

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When the New Orleans Pelicans acquired Saddiq Bey in the trade with the Wizards that brought in Jordan Poole in exchange for CJ McCollum, few thought that the veteran forward would turn into an elite role player for the team. He was widely considered a throw-in to make the salaries match after he missed the entire 2024-25 season with an ACL tear.

Since his return to NBA action after a year and a half of recovery, Bey has become an integral part of the Pelicans. He hasn't missed a game all season, started 20 games, and is playing over 29 minutes per appearance. The 26-year-old is playing so well that Zion Williamson hasn't been able to take his starting job back since his return from injury.

Saddiq Bey's Rise Gives the Pelicans an Excellent Trade Asset

This creates a fascinating dynamic for the Pelicans ahead of the February 5 trade deadline. Bey will almost certainly draw trade interest as a solid three-and-D wing who only makes $6.1 million this season. There simply aren't too many six-foot-eight forwards who can defend multiple positions, hit threes at a reasonable clip, and have some on-ball juice, who are also in their primes and on team-friendly deals.

Therefore, teams will be calling the Pelicans about Bey as we approach the deadline. Joe Dumars and Co. could either sell high on Bey if they get an offer that is at least one decent first-round pick. Or, they could keep him and make him a centerpiece of the Pelicans' new core.

Finding players like Bey is difficult, so teams generally don't tend to move on from them. Off-ball three-and-D wings can fit on any team, including a young, rebuilding group like the Pelicans. Having Bey makes the jobs of Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen significantly easier as he offers them size, physicality, and spacing.

At the same time, the Pelicans need to be in asset accumulation mode. The future is more important than the present in New Orleans, and if there is an offer that brings back serious future assets, the Pelicans would be wise to take it.

This will obviously depend on the types of offers Bey will get on the market. If he continues to play at this level and the Pelicans keep rising, we could see a bidding war for Bey's services, resulting in a trade package that will be hard to turn down for the Pelicans. Along with Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, and Zion Williamson, the Pelicans now have another intriguing trade chip that they have to make a tough decision on.