“They want Buddy Hield so bad” Lakers reignite trade negotiations with Indiana Pacers to sign $6 Million sharpshooter
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Buddy Hield may be traded to Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers are certainly looking for an upgrade over last season’s aging roaster, for which they have turned once again to underrated sharpshooter Buddy Hield. They added some of the young pieces around their trio of superstars. And they also prioritized Kyrie Irving to handle the backcourt duties. Maybe the Lakers are going to go in a different direction. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports that talks have been “reengaged” between the Lakers and Pacers on a possible Hield trade, which could materialize faster.
ESPN Reporter said, “The latest intelligence I have is that things have not moved in terms of the Brooklyn front, there is no traction on a deal that would involve sending Russell Westbrook out and bringing Kyrie Irving in One thing I have learned over the last day or two, tangentially, that there have been some talks reengaged between the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers.”
He explained the possible trade package, “Now, that would center around a Buddy Hield deal, and it could be a deal that would include Russell Westbrook if you’re talking about also having Myles Turner in that deal, or perhaps it could be a secondary move where you would be talking about a Talen Horton-Tucker type of package to try and get Buddy Hield. We could see whether that would affect Russell or not.”
The inclusion of Russell Westbrook for Buddy Hield would be an imbalanced trade salary-wise which brings in Myles Turner’s option for the Pacers, but would they part ways with 2 players? But Interest in Buddy Hield is not very new to Lakers fans. On June 25, 2021, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Lakers and Kings had discussed a deal centered around Hield. It got to a point where ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported four days later that an opt-in form Montrezl Harrell allowed the Lakers to “move towards completing a deal” to acquire Hield, but Los Angeles decided to trade for Westbrook instead.
Is Buddy Hield the missing piece for LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers?
2022 Lakers struggled miraculously on both ends of the floor. No one except LeBron James and Anthony Davis proved efficient in the games offensively. With so much offensive firepower on paper, the Lakers finished 11th in the league with an average of 112 points per game. The addition of Hield alone might not be enough to turn the Lakers into contenders again, but it’s easy to imagine him thriving next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the league.
6th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Hield managed to make name for himself in the league as an efficient long-range shooter. He also averaged 3 max-point shots per game, connecting on them at a 39.8 percent clip. The only players who have made more 3s than him over the last six seasons are Stephen Curry and James Harden.
James has always performed better when they’re surrounded by shooters, while Anthony Davis would also have perimeter support while he can dominate the rim. Hield checks that box and is even a better defender than most of the Lakers showed last season. But still might need to work on it on priority.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)