Buddy Hield was nearly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers over the summer for a reported package that included Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma. That deal, of course, fell through when the Washington Wizards offered Russell Westbrook instead. The Lakers accepted that offer and as of now, Hield remains a member of the Kings.
Hield spoke at Media Day Monday and was asked if he was surprised that he is still in Sacramento.
"They love me in Sac, that's why I'm still here [laughs]. It's the business we live in. Each and every day you’ve got to come in and compete and guys get moved. Yeah, I saw it, but I can't control any of that. That's the business we live in. My job is to come in and work my butt off every day and produce and try to produce wins. I can’t get mad at that. I get paid lots and lots of money to do this, so I'm blessed each and every day to come out here and compete and I love to be around my guys, I love the team camaraderie. The coaching staff has been great. It’s been fun, I love it, whatever happens happens, I can’t control that, but my job is to go out there and play basketball," Hield said.
With Davion Mitchell now in the mix in the guard rotation and Tyrese Haliburton's stock soaring, a big question going into this season is if Hield will be a starter or come off the bench. When asked if that matters and whether too much is made of starting or coming off the bench, Hield said the following.
"It's the way you see it. Everybody sees it differently. My job is to play basketball and whatever I'm called to do I've got to be ready to do it regardless if I like it or not. It's part of being a professional – just go out there and compete," Hield said. "Things happen, team changes, but my goal is to be a starter every time I come on the court regardless, but whatever the team needs me to do or whatever situation I'm in I've got to be prepared for that."
Head coach Luke Walton said he's had good conversations with Hield.
"Buddy looks great, he was here working out all last week and he's in a good place and me and him have had great talks. We've been very open about how I need him to help our team and he's up for it,” Walton said. “We're excited that he's back with us and he's one of the most elite shooters in this league and we all know how important shooting is in today's NBA so he's happy to be here and we're happy to have him.”
We'll have to see how Walton uses training camp and preseason to test the various rotation options he has. He said he plans for it to be competitive.
"There's different groupings I want to see because it's not always about just putting your best five players on the court - it's what players work the best together, and then what gives you a second wave that can come in and really do a great job as well,” Walton said. “There's going to be times at camp where I want to see De'Aaron [Fox], Tyrese, and Davion all on the court together. And then there's lineups I want to see where it's TD [Terence Davis], Moe [Harkless], Alex Len – a more just a gritty, veteran, smart defensive group. So, there's a lot I'm going to be looking at going into camp, but when the competition is that high you can really judge where you're at as opposed to one group just beating up on another group the whole time."
Walton and Hield's full media sessions at Media Day are below.
It was amazingly consistent; even when Buddy had to defend in an interview, he just sat there and let a teammate do the dirty work of defending him.
That’s a healthy place to start, assuming that he has to defend himself.
He’s saying the right things, and we’ll soon find out whether or not they’re true or not.
Camaraderie is righteous.
Can’t beat the banter between a broadcaster from Ballynacally and a basketballer from the Bahamas.
Yeah, can anyone give me the context of why he is reporting on the king’s? His Twitter shows that he was just interviewing Mikel Arteta the gm of Arsenal earlier this week, so why is he covering a basketball team in Sacramento? Genuinely interested in if there is some kind of kings sister city following in Ireland
I feel like we probably have a love of drinking in common with the city in Ireland.
Er, I don’t know if I love drinking, but I do a lot of it during Kings games.
I haven’t the foggiest, mate.
He gets paid to say what he just said. He gets paid to play basketball no matter what jersey he is wearing.
Buddy will be Buddy. Despite the fact that he cannot dribble or play defense he will do what he always does.
Make 3’s at a historic rate?
Ben Simmons’ 3-pointer rate is probably historic, too!
I liked you much better when you were posting Labyrinth and House Party GIFs, Gonzo.
My comment is a GIF–just with words, tho!
Hopefully he actually does do that.
I dislike media days leading up to the season. Try to avoid them like the plague. Bunch of nonsense, blowing smoke up asses and trying to hype things for the season. Let the road to 33 wins begin!
Lots of happy talk at this point.
Who knows?
I suspect Buddy accepts his adjusted role- and comes off the bench.
They will sell this to him as “you can be like Clarkson, every time you touch it, you fire”.
I hope this increases his trade value
Who would trade BH straight up for Irving? Wiggins?
Buddy and a pick for Kyrie, then Barnes/Bagley/picks for Simmons.
We’ll finally have our five point guard starting lineup!
But Kyrie can only play in half the games
Badge Legend