“He’s going to be a great scorer. He works really hard. He’s going to be a tenacious defender. He’s got great athleticism. He’s going to help somebody. He’s going to make a big impact.”
– Klay Thompson talks about NBA draft prospect Buddy Hield
When Klay Thompson expressed this opinion to me in 2016, he could have had no way of knowing that eight years later he would leave the Warriors to make room for the man he described as his “Bahamian brother.”
On Thursday, three days after Thompson agreed to terms with the Dallas Mavericks, the Warriors acquired Buddy Hield to fill the void left by Klay’s departure.
The deal would be a sign-and-trade with the Philadelphia 76ers (who would receive Golden State’s second-round pick via Dallas), completing the five-team deal that was initiated with Thompson’s transfer.
While Hield will never replace Thompson in Dub Nation or NBA postseason history, it’s entirely possible that he could replicate the production lost when Klay moved to Texas.
Really.
There was a time when comparing Thompson to Hield was laughable. The only things the two had in common were their Bahamian ancestry and superior 3-point shooting, but Klay was better than Buddy. While Hield toiled in relative obscurity, Thompson was a foundational member of the league’s best teams, an All-Star every year and a member of the NBA All-Defensive Team in 2018-19. He was on a fast track to the Hall of Fame.
But Thompson has not been able to recapture that lofty status since missing 31 months with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament and right Achilles tendon. The injuries robbed Klay of his once-stellar perimeter defense and caused his shooting to drop off to the same level as Hield’s.
Let’s look at the numbers from the 2021-22 season through the 2023-24 season.
Field goal percentage: Thompson 43.3%, Hield 44.8%.
3-point shooting percentage: Thompson 39.7 percent, Hield 39.2 percent.
His points per 36 minutes averages for the seasons are 24.9, 23.8 and 21.7 for Thompson and 18.2, 19.5 and 16.9 for Hield. Those totals are offset somewhat by Hield’s significantly lower scoring totals; he averaged fewer than 12 shots per game with the Indiana Pacers and 76ers.
Thompson’s stats were compiled while sharing the court with Stephen Curry with the Warriors, while Hield’s were compiled while bouncing between the Sacramento Kings, Pacers and 76ers.
From an objective standpoint, the 34-year-old Thompson and the 31-year-old Hield are very similar players, including on the defensive end. Hield’s 115.7 rating last season was slightly better than Thompson’s 116.1. Neither are great, but Klay tends to hold his own against bigger players.
Additionally, Hield has played a record 246 games over the past three seasons, including 84 games with Indianapolis and Philadelphia last season. He hasn’t reached the “load management” stage yet.
The Warriors have been preparing for Thompson’s possible departure since last summer when he rejected a two-year, $48 million contract extension. They looked at a variety of metrics and laid out a plan from A to Z.
Looking for a bigger guard with the shooting and spacing that Klay provided for over a decade, the Warriors didn’t have many appealing options: Of the five players who have made more 3-pointers than Thompson, two are retired (Ray Allen, Reggie Miller), two others (James Harden, Damian Lillard) are on other teams and the fifth is a Golden State point guard.
Of all the players expected to be worth more than minimum salary, there was no one more obviously valuable than Hield. Eric Gordon was an unrestricted free agent, but he was four years older than Hield and immediately committed to the 76ers.
So the Warriors settled on Hield, who will make $8.7 million in the first year of his $37.4 million contract, nearly $6 million less than the $43.2 million Thompson made in his final season with the Warriors.
Thompson was the Warriors’ biggest loss this offseason, and they responded by acquiring Kyle Anderson, De’Anthony Melton and Hield. Like Klay, Buddy can be inconsistent, but he has the talent to produce impressive scoring bursts.
This represents a great Plan C (Hield), D (Melton) and E (Anderson) for a front office that entered the summer with the goal of acquiring Paul George.
With the NBA’s player contract suspension ending at 9:01 a.m. Saturday, the Warriors only need to acquire one more star, a Plan B, to mount a stunning comeback.
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