Lakers: Should they trade for Buddy Hield this offseason?
By Zane Harris
What Buddy Hield Would Bring To The Lakers
Buddy Hield would be the perfect fit on the Lakers roster. He is one of the best three-point shooters in the league and he even won the three-point contest. He has been a lights out shooter throughout the entirety of his career.
In his four seasons in the league, he has averaged 41.1% from the three-point line on an average of 6.7 attempts per game. These are numbers that would likely increase if he were to play with the Lakers.
Despite being diminished to a bench role on the Sacramento Kings for a fair portion of the season, he has still found a way to average 19.8 points per game on the season. He does this while not needing to have the ball in his hands as well.
Hield is a great off-ball player, is slippery, and knows how to use a screen to get open. This is the kind of player that LeBron loves and someone that thrives when playing with the King. If Hield is on the roster, it is likely that he will be pushed into the starting shooting guard position and taking the place of Danny Green.
This would be a great improvement for the Lakers even without taking into account the likeliness that Hield would shoot at a better percentage than Green has during his time with the Lakers.
However, because Hield is younger and more athletic, he will fit better into the Lakers run-and-gun style of play. Time and time again half-court passes have been thrown to jumpstart the offense into a fastbreak and up the pace of the game.
It is more difficult for an older player like Green to keep up in this style of play, however, Buddy is in his athletic prime and would be able to run the floor while still having the energy to be effective on defense.
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Lastly, adding Hield to the team pushes the longevity of the Lakers as a whole further into the future. The team is currently loaded with aging players who are likely to regress or even retire soon. Hield still has years left in the NBA and would be an effective member of the Lakers for years to come if he is traded to the team.