The Golden State Warriors didn't make the massive splash that they and most fans were hoping they would make at the NBA Trade Deadline. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr. and even LeBron James are not suiting up for the Dubs. The one deal they did make was offloading Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Kristaps Porzingis.
Fans and analysts have been slamming the move as a weak and ineffective end to the Kuminga saga. From No. 7 pick to traded for a player who cannot stay on the court and may not be retained past this season, it seems like a downer of an ending for the Kuminga saga. And while all of that may be true, there is a hidden benefit fans need to recognize: the Warriors will be better for moving on from Buddy Hield.
On the surface, that may be a shocking statement. Hield was, by all accounts, loved in the locker room and by the organization. He also had some big moments in a Warriors jersey, not least of all his nine 3-pointers and 33 points in Game 7 against the Houston Rockets last season. Trading Hield was necessary to make the salaries work, but the Warriors will miss his shooting and gravity. Right?
Wrong. The idea of Buddy Hield is certainly a valuable one for the Warriors, but the reality took a steep nosedive this season after a solid enough debut year in The Bay. The one thing Hield does well is shoot, and yet this season he was down to just 4.4 3-point attempts per game, hitting a frigid 34.4 percent on his long-balls.
Hield doesn't get to the line, he isn't a high-end playmaker, he doesn't do a particularly good job of creating shots. He needs to be a gunner and then leverage that gravity into opportunities to attack the basket in an advantage. But he fell well short of making the kind of impact the Warriors have seen from Klay Thompson or even Jordan Poole -- and they will be better merely by removing him from the rotation entirely.
The Warriors are winners for moving on from Buddy Hield
That seems harsh to say, but it's true. Per databallr.com, the Warriors were outscored by 4.2 points per 100 possessions when Hield was on the court, while they outscored opponents by +6.9 points per 100 when he was off the court. That -11.1 point swing is the by far the worst of any Warriors rotation players.
Cleaning the Glass paints a similar picture; by their numbers, the Warriors were 12.3 points per 100 worse with Hield on the court, not only the worst on the team but in the 6th-percentile leaguewide. Only a handful of players in the entire NBA had a worse impact on their team's ability to win games, and more of those players were fringe contributors or rookies on tanking teams. Hield is a 33-year-old veteran on a playoff team.
Just by getting Hield off of the team, the Warriors will take a major step forward. He is one of the worst defenders in the league and he couldn't hit a shot this year. The prospect of filling his minutes with the likes of De'Anthony Melton (his on/off, by comparison, is the best on the team at +22.2) will mean volumes.
The proof is in the pudding. In the team's first game after the trade deadline, the Warriors took the court without Stephen Curry and came back to win on the road against the Phoenix Suns, an ensemble effort made possible by the two-way impact and competitive fire of everyone in the rotation. Who wasn't in the rotation? Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.
The Warriors will miss Hield, a great locker room guy to have around. Yet they will undoubtedly be better without him, and while the Warriors would have loved to land Giannis Antetokounmpo or another big-name star, the trade they did make could end up helping them in significant ways.
Getting rid of Buddy Hield will prove to be well worth the trade.