Saddiq Bey
Bey is a bench forward in the Pelicans' rotation, productive in about 24 minutes a night, and the open question is whether that workload grows.
Role
He has come off the bench in the regular-season reports I found. Herbert Jones started Thursday's win over the Kings, and SI's Oct 31 grades have Jones back in the starting lineup with Bey giving effective bench minutes. ESPN's player page shows 24.2 minutes a game and 13.2 points over his first five games. In the Oct 31 win over Atlanta he played 26 minutes, per CBS/RotoWire. Competition for the minutes appears to be Bennedict Mathurin, especially in lineups with Dejounte Murray. Rest-day plans this season are not reported. Last April RotoWire logged rest days for him, but that was a different situation.
Yahoo/SI's early-season pieces say he has scored in double figures in every game of the opening stretch, with a hot start from three. The same pieces say he averaged 15.7 points in 23.7 minutes and has earned more time. His 25-point, four-steal game against Atlanta on Oct 31 backs that up. They also point to a bench unit with Bey, Jones, Mathurin, Jordan Poole and Derik Queen that has been productive. RotoWire's player page says he started 64 games before, which shows he can handle a larger load. CBS/RotoWire noted he was efficient in past stretches as a starter.
The coach has kept him in a reserve role even with Murray out, and Jones got the start instead. The same SI pieces warn that a bigger role means he must defend, rebound and decide well when his shots stop falling. A hot shooting start from three may not last. Pulling minutes from Mathurin risks breaking up a lineup that has worked. Early usage is also based on a small sample of games.
Where analysts split
The question is whether coach Jamahl Mosley moves Bey up by trimming Mathurin's minutes next to Murray, or leaves the productive bench units alone. The Yahoo/SI and FanRecap pieces argue for the shift, while the Oct 31 SI grades credit the current setup of Jones starting and Bey off the bench. Mosley has not said he will change it.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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