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Buddy Hield’s altered role in the absence of Fox and Haliburton

Hield was asked to handle the ball more often last season with mixed results, but the Kings now need him to fill that void as injuries have piled on.
By | 23 Comments | May 11, 2021

© Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Buddy Hield’s role in Sacramento’s offense has long been to score the basketball, understandably so, and that seemed to have been what he primarily was searching to do on each possession. This left the playmaking responsibility to the exceptional vision of both De’Aaron Fox and rookie Tyrese Haliburton. Yet, Fox being sidelined after contracting COVID-19, and Haliburton likely out for the remainder of the season as he nurses a left knee injury has demanded a mindset change from Hield. 

Haliburton and Fox have accounted for 41.9 percent of the Sacramento Kings’ total assists this season. With the future backcourt currently sidelined along with Harrison Barnes, additional playmaking responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of Buddy Hield. Over the last nine games without Fox, Hield is averaging 5.6 assists per game, a significant jump from his 3.4 season average.

Luke Walton designated additional ball-handling opportunities to Hield last season and was heavily criticized for doing so as it yielded mixed results. Those play types were reduced this year as the Kings added an exceptional floor general in Haliburton via the draft this past offseason, but with him sidelined the roster has few remaining options.

The starting lineup as of late has featured Hield alongside Delon Wright, Maurice Harkless, Marvin Bagley, and Richaun Holmes. Wright is not a high-usage point guard that can be asked to initiate the offense each time down the floor, and none of Harkless, Bagley, or Holmes have averaged upwards of two assists per game at any point in their careers.

While Hield may be most impactful when running through screens and converting catch-and-shoot situations, he has adapted to his temporarily demanded role well. Since Fox has gone down, Buddy is averaging the most assists (5.6) of any Kings’ player aside from Haliburton, who only played in five of those showings and should not be expected to see the floor again this season.

Pick-and-roll is a staple of the offense in Sacramento and during that stretch of time 29.9 percent of Hield’s possessions have come from that action. For context, only 16.6 percent of his possessions this season were pick-and-roll prior to Fox’s absence and that number was 23.3 percent throughout the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign. So, while the role is not exactly new for Hield, it was thrown towards him at an unexpected time of the season when the Kings are still desperately fighting for their play-in hopes.

There does not appear to be new impressive reads, crosscourt dimes, or flash bounce passes, but more of a mindset change from Buddy and awareness of what the team currently needs from him. This season, Hield was assisting on 13.3 percent of Sacramento’s makes when he was on the floor prior to Fox going down and that number has risen to 20.5 percent since. He has either lead the team or ended second in total assists logged come nights end in each of the four games that have taken place since Haliburton went down.

Hield is far from showing an ability to be the engine of an offense or even the second unit, but what’s more impressive is his willingness to alter his mindset and role as the team’s unfortunate injuries have necessitated.

With three of Sacramento’s best players in Fox, Haliburton, and Barnes sidelined, Terrence Davis, Delon Wright, and Maurice Harkless have seen an increase in minutes but minimal change in role. Meanwhile, Buddy Hield has been asked to change usual score-first mindset towards getting his teammates involved and he has been doing just that.

With Fox’s return date uncertain, Hield will need to keep this up over the final stretch as the Kings currently sit 2.5 games out of the final play-in spot with four remaining opponents.

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andy_sims
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May 11, 2021 7:32 am

It’s funny, because I’ve developed a reflex where when I see Buddy put the ball on the floor, I experience low-level dread. That hasn’t gone away, but Hield has earned some respect with his ability to facilitate the offense in the limited way that the piece quantifies.

Even before the injuries, Hield had developed a nice chemistry with Holmes, and frequently put Richaun in a position to have a pretty clean look for a push shot from inside of fifteen feet. Those shots haven’t been quite as automatic as they’d been in the first half of the season, but Hield’s assists have risen significantly.

Buddy is still turnover prone, and has a tendency to force things, but if he could eliminate even two of those high-risk passes a game, I’d guess his overall numbers during this stretch would actually look pretty good.

Wright & Davis have both shown impressive ability to put teammates in positions to score, and I’m wondering if that hasn’t rubbed off on Buddy a little bit. It was likely not clear to him while Fox & Haliburton were driving the bus, and his role was to run himself free to get open shots. With the roster being transformed over the past few weeks, Hield has also transformed.

No one is ever going to confuse him with a point guard, but Hield has seen the team benefit from his willingness to adjust to the circumstances. Credit where credit is due, it’s made a difference.

King4life
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May 11, 2021 9:36 am
Reply to  andy_sims

I’ve developed the same sense of dread every time Buddy dribbles. His turnovers still drive me crazy, especially the ones where he seems to float the pass so slowly that the defender can easily pick off.

I will give him credit though, he’s done a pretty good job without Fox and Tyrese. Still hoping to trade him in the offseason.

Otis
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May 11, 2021 9:50 am
Reply to  King4life

Interestingly enough, Buddy’s turnover rate is one of the lowest on the roster, or at least among the guard crew. But you can see ’em coming.

Kingsguru21
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May 11, 2021 9:57 am
Reply to  Otis

Yep. It’s not the quantity of the turnovers, it’s the sheer horribleness of the TOs Buddy has. This group is 10th in TOV%, but I’d bet they are bottom 5 in points off turnovers allowed. And the latter matters more, unfortunately.

Last edited 2 years ago by Kingsguru21
andy_sims
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May 11, 2021 1:22 pm
Reply to  Otis

Gawd, that is exactly right.

TerzoM
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May 11, 2021 7:45 am

Win-win. Increasing trade value and “yup and dem checks still coming in”

Jman1949
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May 11, 2021 7:54 am

Meanwhile Fox seems to have weighed in with support for Luke Walton continuing as HC:

€œEverybody wants to continue to grow together and keep this group together, and continue to play for a coach that you trust in,€ Fox added.

https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/kings/deaaron-fox-supports-luke-walton-remaining-kings-coach-next-season

andy_sims
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May 11, 2021 8:36 am
Reply to  Jman1949

Two things:

  1. He’s under contract for four years. He’ll get over it if a qualified head coach is hired.
  2. If Walton remains, and the on-court results continue to be, ahh, dismal, Fox has no leg to stand on if he starts making noise about a “losing culture” or other such nonsense.

If Failson stays, it’ll be about money tied up in that shit contract VD handed him. I’m hoping McNair has the juice to do what he thinks best.

RORDOG
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May 11, 2021 9:36 am
Reply to  andy_sims

Or the front office ultimately came to the conclusion that Walton met their preseason expectation:

If Failson stays, it’ll be about money tied up in that shit contract VD handed him.

Maybe they also can put out feelers to gauge interest for potential replacements. I’m not sure exactly how that works, but it seems like something that happens (It actually seemed like that was the case when Vlade hired Walton TBH). If the various up and coming assistants and respected veteran coaches are all lukewarm (pun intended) on taking the Kings job, then they may conclude continuity is the best option for their goals going into next season.

I don’t really have an opinion on the matter though. I don’t know enough about this stuff to know if Walton is, or can be, a good coach. He’s never coached a team to a winning record. That’s probably the biggest knock against him in my mind. On the other hand, it just seems weird to fire a coach based on this season’s WIN%. To me it feels like the WIN% is basically in line with the talent level of the roster.

Otis
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May 11, 2021 9:49 am
Reply to  RORDOG

To me it feels like the WIN% is basically in line with the talent level of the roster.

See, I would disagree with this, considering it’s essentially the same talent level (maybe a bit better) than Joerger’s 39-win team. Fox is better, Barnes has had a very good year, and Haliburton is clearly a talent. Richaun is better than WCS, who played 2,200 minutes for Joerger that season.

And the reason is pretty glaring, the defense is atrocious. Secondarily, Buddy seems to have regressed pretty consistently under Walton. Bagley as well, you could say.

Last edited 2 years ago by Otis
RORDOG
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May 11, 2021 10:09 am
Reply to  Otis

They technically still have an outside chance of essentially tying the WIN% from Joerger’s last season, but they’d have to go 4-0 in their remaining games.

Ultimately, I still come back to same thought process: Is Walton an above average coach? No. Is an above average coach available and willing to come to Sacramento this offseason? That’s hard to know.

The one part I will add is that if Vivek wanted to, then he could authorize McNair to make it known a godfather offer is on table for Walton’s replacement during the search process. I just don’t believe they’d ever due that even if Walton’s contract was completely off the books next season.

Otis
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May 11, 2021 10:29 am
Reply to  RORDOG

Is an above average coach available and willing to come to Sacramento this offseason? That’s hard to know.

I don’t think that’s hard to know at all. The answer is yes, McNair just has to find that right person.

And I’ve mentioned this before, but this year’s team’s advanced metrics show an overperformance in record. A few wins down the stretch against teams like OKC are pretty meaningless if we’re really analyzing the state of the team. Joerger’s team was 18th in Net Rating, and they’ve subsequently gone to 21st and 24th.

RORDOG
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May 11, 2021 11:09 am
Reply to  Otis

You may be right. Like I said I’m basically indifferent on this because I just don’t feel like I have a good enough understanding of the root cause on stuff like this.

My overall point is still that I don’t think we should assume that the only reason Walton may be retained is that McNair’s hands are tied. There’s credible reports that the coaching staff has kept the locker room together, Walton and McNair seem to have a good working relationship, and conventional wisdom is this team basically performed as well as you would’ve expected. That at least tells me it’s entirely possible that if McNair decides to keep Walton, it’s because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.

Otis
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May 11, 2021 11:16 am
Reply to  RORDOG

My overall point is still that I don’t think we should assume that the only reason Walton may be retained is that McNair’s hands are tied.

Oh, agree with you on this…

andy_sims
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May 11, 2021 1:24 pm
Reply to  RORDOG

They technically still have an outside chance of essentially tying the WIN% from Joerger’s last season, but they’d have to go 4-0 in their remaining games.

This is the kind of outside that Bob Uecker called in Major League.

andy_sims
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May 11, 2021 10:28 am
Reply to  RORDOG

McNair probably had some firm ideas about who he’d want as head coach while interviewing for the position. The landscape has changed, but he probably already has a short list, based on who is available, and who is likely to be.

There isn’t a ton of disagreement about whether Walton needs to go; he isn’t the guy to get a team like this to the next level, let alone the ones above it. There are no guarantees that another coach will be be able to make that kind of difference, it’s something of a crapshoot. It is a virtual lock that this team will continue to roll snake eyes with the current coach. There doesn’t appear to be any kind of plan to what Walton is doing, other than spurning player development in hopes of saving his job. With such a young and largely unproven group of players, and a franchise that finds it impossible to attract talent, there are no other options than to see who’s real among the ones that are here.

Another coach might look at this roster and have a plan to make lemonade if McNair can just provide a little sugar. It will require the GM and head coach to be on the same page, and I’m pretty sure that Walton can’t read.

BestHyperboleEver
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May 11, 2021 9:18 am
Reply to  Jman1949

Sure, Fox is putting up big numbers under Walton.

Gregoryl
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May 11, 2021 9:39 am
Reply to  Jman1949

The buzz was that the players dislike for Joerger was a big reason for his firing, and now the franchise player’s approval of Luke may save his job….one has a reputation has a hard-a$$ and the other as a “player’s coach”. If we’re 2 years in to the Walton regime and Fox can’t see what is going on here, that’s a problem.

RORDOG
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May 11, 2021 9:48 am

OT: I definitely recommend everyone take the time to read this article from Zach Kram at The Ringer on the reliability of individual defensive catch-all stats. It’s really interesting read, and actually includes a cameo appearance from former Kings VP of Analytics Luke Bornn.

TerzoM
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May 11, 2021 10:20 am
Reply to  RORDOG

Thanks. I’m hoping tech like Second Spectrum + AI in the future will start eventually replace human referees. Less player bitching to refs and less terrible calls will be great.

Carl
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May 11, 2021 12:54 pm
Reply to  RORDOG

OOT; Still looking for hard evidence Luke Bornn actually did anything for the Kings (and that’s not really a slam on Bornn).

Last edited 2 years ago by Carl
Otis
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May 11, 2021 12:57 pm
Reply to  Carl

Maybe he was actually the guy keeping Peja out of trouble.

Rojoking
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May 11, 2021 10:09 am

When Buddy gets the ball, he seems to wait too long to make a decision, whether to shoot, pass or drive. He who attacks 1st, on offense or defense, tends to have an advantage. Buddy is often responding to a defensive attack instead of the 1 who attacks. Quicker decisions would benefit the team.

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