Way back in 2017, Buddy Hield was compared to one of the best shooters of all time, Steph Curry. Ironically, the Detroit Pistons‘ Saddiq Bey broke Curry’s rookie record for three-pointers made without a miss this past season.
Hield had Curry-like potential, and the Kings were thrilled to land him in the DeMarcus Cousins trade. Since then, he has sort of disappeared from the NBA spotlight, aside from winning the 2020 Three-Point Contest.
Part of the reason he’s fallen off is that he plays in Sacramento, which has been wasting any talent they have had since 2004 (back when Michigan’s Chris Webber helped them battle the Kobe and Shaq’ Lakers for West supremacy). Another reason is that he’s himself has fallen off. Hield’s scoring average and shooting percentage have slowly been dropping off.
Why should Pistons fans care?
Saddiq Bey, the sharpshooting rookie phenom on the Pistons roster, has a very similar rookie stat-line to Hield’s initial season. But Detroit is actively building up, while Sacramento is just kind of sad. There is no reason for Kings fans to be excited. No help is coming.
The reason Hield is not playing at the level expected after a fine rookie campaign, is that he is not taking enough catch-and-shoot threes, and those shots does take are becoming increasingly contested. He can’t make a shot that isn’t wide open.
Bey shoots just over 40% on his catch-and-shoot shots while, here, Hield, now an experienced vet, is shooting 38%. It should also be noted that Bey shoots catch-and-shoot threes at nearly twice the rate Hield does: 50% of Bey’s shots are catch-and-shoot, but only 30% of Hield’s are.
It should also be noted that Hield shoots only 31% when a defender is six-feet away, compared to 50% when there is no one around him. Even if Bey struggles to hit shots over people, that won’t be as big an issue in Detroit. Killian Hayes is excellent at finding the open man, and Jerami Grant and, of course, Cade Cunningham will both be able to create their own space. Bey can exclusively be a kick-out option if his shooting ever did take a sharp decline.
Oh, it also has to be considered that Luke Walton is not a very good coach, and Dwane Casey is. (Admittedly, being a better coach than Walton is a low bar) Walton does not even trust himself to run his own offense and has been criticized for not utilizing Hield’s skillset.
I guess another wasted career in a Kings jersey won’t hurt.
Casey, on the other hand, emphasizes quick pace, deep shots, and smart ball movement. Perfect for a catch-and-shoot man like Bey to find his role. and thrive. He already has, he didn’t win first All-Rookie honors for nothing.
While the two have entered the league in a similar fashion, Bey is on track to have a much better career.
His supporting cast and coaching staff will create an environment that will allow him to be as productive as possible, and he has already proven he can and will take advantage of that.