The Athletic’s Shams Charania started the recent string of Buddy Hield trade rumors earlier this week, and that sentiment appears to be spreading among NBA insiders leading up to the 2021 NBA Draft.
Charania’s colleague at The Athletic and one of the most accurate reporters in Sacramento, Sam Amick, gave us some addition details on Wednesday morning on where the Hield trade talks stand from his perspective and sources.
Of all the scenarios for a supporting player believed to be in play, one source to the situation indicated the Hield deal which would involve forward Kyle Kuzma and would also likely require Lakers forward Montrezl Harrell to opt in to the final year of his deal (worth $9.7 million) and be included appears the most promising thus far.
Harrell has a $9.7 million player option for next season, and it appears that the deal currently being discussed between the Kings and Lakers is at least partly contingent on Harrell picking up his player option. It’s hard to know what Harrell is thinking here because you could make the case that opting out is the smarter move if he wants to find a real contender to play for in free agency, but at the same time, opting in would give him plenty of playing time and opportunity in Sacramento to put up some impressive numbers in a contract year. This one could go either way.
Amick makes no mention of the Lakers’ #22 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft as being involved in a potential Buddy Hield trade. That doesn’t mean it won’t be, but if I’m the Kings, I’m not sure that Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell alone is enough for me to part ways with Buddy Hield’s elite volume shooting.
The good news is that if Monte McNair isn’t satisfied with the Lakers’ offer, it sounds like he has some options. Amick also reported that the 76ers are interested in Buddy Hield, but does not reveal any further trade details aside from the fact that this has nothing to do with a potential Ben Simmons trade:
A source with knowledge of the talks said Philadelphia also has shown interest (unrelated to Simmons), with other teams believed to be engaged on that front as well. A Hield deal of some sort, it seems, is likely on the horizon.
The 76ers don’t have a ton of comfortable ways to acquire Buddy Hield without a bigger Ben Simmons trade, but they have some options. Our old pal George Hill is owed roughly $10 million next season if the 76ers guarantee his contract, which they could be motivated to do if needed to facilitate a Hield acquisition. That shouldn’t be enough to get the Kings interested, though.
Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle or Philly’s 28th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft would be the most obvious targets for the Kings here, but we’ll have to wait and see for more details on what Philadelphia is offering.
Sam Amick’s last note is probably his most interesting, though a Buddy Hield trade is likely on the horizon.
Epic fail. Someone throw that damn gif in for me. Please and thanks.
(sorry, I couldn’t figure out how to get your original link to work…found this somewhat similar one)
That is an excellent GIF for the occasion.
I assume Embiid and or/Lebron will be in a Kings uniform by EOB Thursday.
Git ‘er DONE!
I will miss Buddy’s vastly underrated durability, and I am pretty sure that he is going to be a better player in LA or Philly than he was here, the byproduct of being properly used and playing alongside superior talent. I will not miss his contract or his high dribble, and I look forward to watching the Fox/Hali backcourt.
Good points. And I imagine his attendance record is being mentioned a lot on the Kings side.
“Availability is always your best ability” has been highlighted by the COVID shortened seasons.
I think you’re putting too positive of a spin on Biddy’s time here. Much of his off-court behavior was unacceptable.
Unacceptable?
how so?
What off-court behavior? He was no media darling, that’s for sure. And I’m guessing that he could be a pain in the arse to coach.
For me, unacceptable off-court behavior is along the lines of domestic abuse and the like. Being a general pain in the ass does not meet that bar, at least for me. To wit, DeMarcus Cousins was a tremendous community guy. It was on the court that he was frustrating.
The Kings just offered the QO to a guy with “off-court behavior.” Buddy Hield is simply not loveable.
“Unacceptable” can be viewed in a variety of ways I guess, I’m talking more about his behavior being the type that is a bad influence on the locker room, especially the young guys, and especially on a team that has enough issues already.
The off-court behavior involves going to the media for a new contract, making fun of Hali in a national interview for saying that the team winning was his top goal, complaining to the media about the coach, etc..
I would frame that as “not likeable,” but I get what you’re saying.
Sadly, there is not one thing in your list that is not at or close to the NBA norm in today’s NBA. And Buddy Hield did not create the culture in Sacramento – he is a result of it.
Which is why Buddy needs to go for a bag of chips… the Vlade culture of player enablement and low bbiq must go before anything can change.
And yet Luke Walton remains. It’s the equivalent of cutting off a snake’s tail instead of its head.
Not arguing that Hield should stay. Just saying that his exodus does nothing to change the “team culture.”
Yep, that’s the problem.
“A bag of chips.”
I’ll give you two bags of chips for your car.
Wait, you don’t want to give away one of your assets for essentially nothing in return?
How is that Vlade culture? I don’t see McNair pushing back on his best player’s viewpoint that last season was a success.
Enablement: Buddy cries to the media and Vlade gives Buddy a new deal.
Low bbiq: Marvin v. Hali.
Interesting how many letters “unacceptable” and “uppity” have in common.
Wow! Give the guy a break.
If travel considerations are a part of this negotiation. I’m volunteering to drive Buddy to Philly to keep him from the L@&%$rs!
I guess this must mean Vivek has soured on the former apple of his eye.
Might not have had to happen, if he didn’t allow Walton to get hired. 🙁
Vivek, probably: “Once a King, always a King”, like he said when they let Isaiah go.
Isaiah:
The lane is about to close up for Fox without Buddy’s spacing. Hali can shoot but he’s not demanding the same amount of respect from teams.
I know Buddy’s turnovers and decision making on offense were infuriating but I always believed it was the system to blame, placing him into ball handler playmaker role. I think he will thrive elsewhere as a Duncan Robinson or JJ Reddick-type.
Duncan and JJ constantly ran off screens and shot on the move. To the eye Buddy was awful shooting in a start and abruptly stop position. He’s a knockdown set foot shooter, but anything else was extremely inconsistent.
While he will put up better numbers getting more open shots, JJ and Duncan are much better all around shooters and therefore bigger threats. Plus they still made smart passing decisions within their system. Buddy is still a chucking 6th man in my opinion.
On Fox, hopefully the lane closing and more helps lead to more assists.
I haven’t looked at this year’s numbers, but Hield has consistently been among the league leaders in both ground covered and shooting on the move.
Looks like Walton is getting his guy. These two seem to enjoy working with each other. Does this move mean Walton will be here longer than some of us think/want?
(sorry for the L*kers stuff)
You OK, safety Cat?
Kuzma isn’t a good player, and no one should expect him to be a good player. This is a salary dump that clears salary in 21-22 and 22-23 and lets other dominoes fall. Acquiring Kuzma lets the team deal Barnes with a downgrade in his place instead of no one. Acquiring Harrell for a year allows Holmes to walk for nothing, not committing any long term salary to Richaun.
I’m not necessarily for or against the deal, but no one should believe this deal by itself makes the team better. If the deal goes forward, whatever happens with Barnes + 9 is the real key to whether this team gets better anytime soon.
That’s a lot of assumptions
Agreed.
So then, this would make you a Kuzma-not? Welcome to planet Kangz, comrade.
Anti Kuzmite
Above average. He was under 40% the last two seasons.
The accuracy isn’t top of the league, but 39% accuracy on Hield’s volume is elite. Only Steph made more threes than Buddy last year. On Buddy’s volume of threes, the difference between his 39.1% and reaching 40% is a difference of 6 made threes over the entire season.
Buddy has many flaws. Quibbling over his shooting ability is so weird to me.
Agreed. I think there’s a healthy debate to be had about the relative value of Buddy’s shooting in a league where quality deep shooting is becoming less and less scarce, but the overall quality of his shooting is excellent.
Greg ruined my quibbling!
18-19: 278 for 651 for .427 3P%
20-21: 282 for 721 for .391 3P%
This season, Buddy shot 70 extra threes and made four (5.7%). The extra volume was entirely wasted.
But 39% on that volume is still extremely effective.
“Effective” I can agree with. I’m not sure Seth Curry or a bunch of other players would do worse on the same volume. Buddy was 69th in 3P% last season and his extra volume was wasted. I think he would likely be elite again on better usage and less volume, but the player we had over the last two seasons was not elite, in my opinion.
For what it’s worth, his 3pt numbers last season were virtually identical to Dame’s. Regardless, I’m not too worried about quibbling over the definition of elite. I’m not a huge fan of Hield and was vocal about trading him the season before his extension. There are plenty of reasons to want to move him. But he is absolute among the top 3 point shooters in the league and I doubt you could get any player or GM to dispute that. What you could get them to dispute is whether they want to pay $20MM for that, especially as a non-competitive team.
So here are the guys that played 85% of the games last year (62 – Curry played 63 so I set the bar here), made more than 4 three pointers a game and shot at least 40%:
Steph Curry
Here is the list if you drop the percentage to 39%, leaving the games played at 85% and the number made at 4:
Curry
Damian Lillard
Buddy Hield
Here is the list if you drop the made three pointers to 3 a game, leaving the games played at 85% and the percentage at 39%
Curry
Lillard
Hield
Duncan Robinson
Joe Harris
Tim Hardaway, Jr.
Those are some pretty small lists.
Hield is overpaid, and he has shortcomings, for sure. But he is on a pretty short list of shooters that can stay on the floor, shoot at volume, and convert at a high level.
And 1 – The difference between Hield shooting 39% and 40% from three would be the equivalent of 0.08 more makes per game. This would have resulted in a total of 5.68 more makes over the entire season, or roughly one more make every 12.5 games. This would have added 0.24 to his season ppg, upping him from 16.6 to 16.8.
They probably would do worse – otherwise they likely would be taking more shots, in a three point centered league. An increase in volume likely means they are taking tougher shots.
Until a guy proves he can shoot a higher percentage at higher volume, I’m not sold that he can do that – Buddy has shown he certainly can.
That’s really the whole ballgame. If Seth Curry’s coaches thought he could come close to maintaining his percentages while more-than doubling his three-point attempts (from 280 this past season, compared to Hield’s 721), there is no doubt that he’d have the green light. It’s the same with any high-level shooter.
It’s also difficult not to consider that many of the best shooters in the league are paired up with considerably better offensive players than have been on recent Sacramento rosters. Just in Curry’s case, Embiid has so much gravity within the offense that he can draw two or three defenders once he gets around the paint. That results in a lot of pretty clean looks for Curry. If there had been better shooters to add to Curry on the perimeter, it’s possible that Seth may have shot an even better percentage.
Wherever Buddy ends up, he’ll likely be utilized in a way that allows him to focus more on what he’s great at, and should thrive. If he does nothing other than get back to his career average from three, and continues to get a high volume of shots? An all-star nod isn’t out of the question.
I just hope we get some pieces that move things forward.
Yeah, the “under 40%” trope isn’t really the sick burn that some seem to think it is, when the league average is only 36.7%. Particularly, as you noted, on the volume of shots Hield takes.
He’s not Steph Curry, but he does force distortion of defenses because he can’t be left alone above the arc. Should he go, a lot of fans may be surprised to find that the Kings’ ability to collect points in the paint is diminished.
Still too many moving parts to know anything, that’s for sure.
I put volume there on purpose. Buddy Hield finished 2nd in the NBA in 3PM the last two seasons. His durability + nightly volume + very good 3P% = an elite volume shooter in my eyes.
Sort of on the same note but not really: Something I noticed with Buddy is his wild 3P% swing during the first half of season vs. post All-Star break.
2019-20:
pre-All-Star: .385 3P%
post-All-Star: .424 3P%
2020-21:
pre-All-Star: .378 3P%
post-All-Star: .405 3P%
Anyway, I know we do this with labeling Buddy an elite 3-point shooter all the time, so I added the adjective(?) on there to satisfy that, and it still didn’t work lol. I get your point, but I think calling him an elite volume shooter is very fair.
To be clear, that’s not a criticism of your excellent work in any way, Tony. I think Hield’s shooting has dropped off quite a bit over the last two seasons. That being said, I fully expect Buddy to return to form on a team with a competent coach.
On the Philly front. Buddy may be a piece in a multi-team deal involving Simmons. So the return isn’t necessarily current Philly assets.
Buddy to LA Floppers
Fit right in with LeBron
If you give the Lakers Buddy Hield you may as well give them a championship.
Besides health and luck, quality shooting was the one thing that team was desperately in need of. Give Buddy Hield wide open looks where he doesn’t have to use an escape dribble because AD and LeBron are getting double teamed…
You don’t make deals with the enemy, dammit. I hate this idea.
i Get that. If they were both good teams fighting to see who makes it to the finals then yeah, I’m with ya.
but we’re way past worrying about anything other than the kings getting better. If it also makes the Lakers (or warriors) better than so be it
This exactly. The Kings need to worry about themselves. Not shoot themselves in the foot because of some one-sided “rivalry.”
I don’t care if a trade helps the Lakers, as long as it also helps the Kings. If and when the Kings are actually in competition with top teams, then I’ll worry about this. Until then it’s just cutting off your nose to spite your face.
I think we’ve cut of our nose and gouged out our own eyes in the 2018 draft. We’re now at the upper lip.
Bingo. We should be solely focused on making this team a championship contender in the long run. We are not in a position to discount certain teams as a trade partner in the pursuit of that goal.
Exactly. In a best case scenario, Lebron will be 40 by the time this team is a consistent playoff team at all, let alone a threat to the Lakers.
Lebron should be declining with age. AD is great but maybe injuries will limit him. I think Buddy will be fine win or lose
Unless it’s part of a much larger deal I really doubt Maxey would be included. #28 and Thybulle could be on the table though. As could a future, say, lottery protected pick. Fun fact: A direct trade with the Sixers that doesn’t include Simmon/Embiid/Harris would almost certainly have to include our boy, George Hill! Who I’m sure would be waived or flipped.
Beyond the assets you mention, I wouldn’t mind getting our hands on Paul Reed and Shake Milton.
Waiving Hill nets you Holmes though?
Maybe. I haven’t looked at it that closely. I’m not so focused on keeping Holmes unless it’s on a team-friendlier deal than I expect him to get.
I’ll miss buddy if he gets traded. Other folks may not have thought so, but I always thought he played hard for the kings. He may not have played smart, but he certainly played hard.
He played hard and he played pretty much every night. He’s a weird dude, but I don’t think he’s a malcontent or anything.
I hear you there. Just have to hope for a win-win situation after draft day.
But I thought Buddy had no value??
Buddy isn’t untradeable, but “value” is in the eye of the beholder.
Kuzma trade might happened after August 26th when his contract extensions kicks in. Lakers might also be waiting on Harrell opting in, and if he doesn’t, Lakers might package Kuzma and KCP instead. If the Lakers include #22 in the trade, Kings would be getting the player drafted at #22. Kings might be calling Lakers on draft night to make the pick through the Lakers if #22 is included.
If the Lakers and Kings agree to a trade, it won’t be until 08/26. We will see who the Lakers pick at #22, especially if this player is being shipped to Sac.
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