Atlanta Hawks restricted free agent Saddiq Bey’s season is over due to ACL tear. What’s that mean for his future?

As we approach the NBA’s free agency window, there is one player who is not in a good place. The Hawks’ star is now looking at a situation that will deeply impact his market value as he looks to move on from the Atlanta Hawks.

Saddiq Bey’s season is over ahead of free agency

According to reports on Monday, Atlanta Hawks forward Saddiq Bey is out for the season with a torn left ACL. As for how the injury occurred, it was during the Hawks game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. Bey was seen leaving the game early in the fourth quarter, and sadly, an MRI on Monday confirmed the team’s worst fears: A torn ACL. To be clear, this specific injury is among the most serious and unfortunately common injuries in the sport. In worst-case scenarios, it can take up to a year for a player to fully recover.

At this point, one has to admit that Bey’s journey in the NBA has be fraught with obstacles since he was drafted by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft with the 19th overall pick. Indeed, after a brief stint in the Big Apple, Bey joined the Pistons where an average of 16.1 points saw him become a pillar of the team. To that end, it was actually quite surprising to see a defensive wing with those kinds of numbers and attributes - his size is key - traded away in the middle of his third season with the team. There was of course chatter that he was looking for a sizeable extension, but the argument could easily be made that he was worth it, especially considering the fact that the Pistons have since gone on to become one of the worst teams in the league. That said, Bey’s production dropped in that third year and so too did his apparent defensive prowess. With that in mind, the trade to Atlanta could be considered logical.

So, what now for Saddiq Bey?

That’s a good question. In this most recent season, Bey averaged 13.7 points per game and a less-than-impressive 41.6% from the field. From beyond the arc he was only able to offer 31.6% and where his defense was concerned, we can safely say it was nothing to write home about. Now, we have an injury. As a restricted free agent this offseason, his future is actually less in his hands than it is in the Hawks’. Consider for a moment that any suitor will have to deal with the fact that their cap space could be met by the original team’s offer i.e., meaning cap space gets tied up without the guarantee of a deal. Were Bey healthy and firing on all cylinders, that would be justified but clearly he’s not.

What does that mean for his future? At present we’ve got three main options. Firstly, there is the option of an extension with the Hawks, but such a move would have to take into account that the Hawks will have approximately $163 million on the books for the coming season. If reports prove true that the luxury tax will sit at $172 million, that seems very unlikely. Next, we’ve got the option of the Hawks could giving him a one-year qualifying offer that would permit him to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025. Given his Draft status, his qualifying offer would be just a one-year, $8.5 million deal for next season. So, again, that seems unlikely.

Lastly, we’ve got the potential scenario where the Hawks don’t offer a qualifying offer, but rather Bey becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason, at which point he would have to convince a team to sign him while recovering from a severe injury. That last one is understandably the most unlikely. This all to say that Saddiq Bey’s immediate future does not look promising at this moment. That’s not to say he can’t turn things around, but that will begin with him fully recovering from his season-ending injury. After that, we will see.