Warriors best hope for winning individual NBA award isn't who you think it is

Having missed out on playoff action last season, the primary focus for the Golden State Warriors will be on team improvement and trying to rewrite their fortunes in 2024-25.

Individual storylines will help shape who the Warriors are as a team though, making for interesting viewing to see if any player can make themselves a strong candidate for one of the NBA's top individual awards.

It's easy to forget that in an otherwise disappointing season from a team perspective, Stephen Curry did come away as the NBA's Clutch Player of the Year in 2024. So, who's Golden State's best chance of delivering an individual award this season?

Warriors guard Buddy Hield could become a strong Sixth Man of the Year candidate

Many would consider the Warriors best hope coming in Most Improved Player discussion. The franchise could have two reasonable candidates based on how the season pans out, with both Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski expected to take significant leaps this season.

However, it's a more obscure option who could be Golden State's best chance of landing an individual award. In a recent article providing predictions for every major award, Stephen Noh of the Sporting News declared Buddy Hield as his favorite for Sixth Man of the Year.

"Sixth Man voters usually pick the guy who guns the most off the bench. That is Hield in a nutshell," Noh wrote. "Steve Kerr loves Brandin Podziemski, and Stephen Curry is going to start. Hield should be in a bench role where he's free to go off."

Hield's candidacy makes some sense -- he's currently in a three-way battle for the starting two guard position, but those odds would suggest the veteran sharpshooter is more likely to come off the bench. As Noh outlines, Hield will have one job and that's to provide the absolute high-end elite three-point shooting the Warriors lost in Klay Thompson's departure.

Each of the last four winners have averaged between 13.5 and 20.7 points per game, which is a range Hield could easily fall into albeit he may have to be toward the top end of that -- something he's proven capable of in the past.

The reason against Hield is also an easy one -- there's still too much uncertainty on what Golden State's rotation looks like. Eight of the last nine Sixth Man of the Year winners have averaged at least 26 minutes per game -- can Hield reach that mark in order to give himself an opportunity at the award? The jury is still out based on how much depth the Warriors have and particularly at his position.

Given the same uncertainties may also extend to Kuminga and Podziemski, Hield may actually be the strongest candidate for an award in what would be a major boost for a Warriors team that acquired the 31-year-old for less than $10 million per year during the offseason.