How Kerr can maximize Warriors potential with Hield’s Sixth Man role originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Through four preseason games, 11 different Warriors have started at least one game. Some have many years of experience, others only months, and no one is the second best shooter on the team.
The omission of Buddy Hield is by design. It’s also a loud clue.
Although Hield has not been formally announced as Golden State’s new Sixth Man, every barber, butcher and basketball store can see that will be his role. It is where he is more valuable to the Warriors.
A career 40 percent 3-point shooter, Hield fits the profile of the dangerous NBA Sixth Man. Like Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams — the league’s only three-time winners of the award — Hield’s shooting ability draws opponents’ attention from the moment he leaves the bench and walks to the scorer’s table to check in.
“He looks the part, doesn’t he?” coach Steve Kerr said Sunday night, after a 111-93 rout of the Detroit Pistons at Chase Center. “He comes off the bench and you can feel his impact straight away. He is not shy. We need that. We need a scorer off the bench, and he’s been fantastic his first four games. I’m really excited about Buddy.
“And that role makes a lot of sense for him.”
It’s the only role that makes absolute sense for Hield, who turns 32 in December. He will have one basic task, to open by any means necessary and put the ball through the hoop.
And Hield, who has made 412 starts in 632 career games, seems ready for the role.
“It doesn’t matter at all whether I start or come off the bench,” Hield told NBC Sports Bay Area. “Whatever the team needs me to do, I just want to be effective in my role and play at the highest level I can.”
In four preseason games, Hield is putting up unsustainable numbers, averaging 12.2 points and 16.5 minutes. After scoring 12 points, on 4-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-6 from deep over 13 minutes on Sunday, he is averaging 12.2 points per game. He is shooting 60 percent (18-of-30) from the field, including 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from distance.
On a per-36-minute basis, that comes out to a very efficient 27 points per game.
Once Kerr reduces the rotation to its norm, Hield can expect to play 25-30 minutes a night, with slight variation based on his performance. This is what Kerr envisioned last season when he moved longtime starter Klay Thompson into the Sixth Man role. Klay accepted it reluctantly, because it did not warm his heart.
The idea now is the same as it was then, to give the Warriors an elite scorer capable of playing with Stephen Curry and, moreover, without him. To be the leading scorer when Curry is on the bench, as he will be for 15 or so minutes per game.
“I anticipate Buddy will be on the floor when Steph won’t be when we start the regular season,” Kerr said before going into the game. “For obvious reasons.”
The Hield-Thompson comparisons apply. In Klay’s last three seasons with Golden State, he shot 39.7 percent from beyond the arc. In Buddy’s last three seasons – with the Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers – he shot 39.2 percent from deep.
Thompson was 683-of-1,719 from beyond the arc, while Hield was 769-of-1961. Only Curry, with 915 made during that span, has drained more triples than Buddy.
Hield already seems ready for the mindset he will need in his role. Look to score, but don’t fall into a shot-thirsty trap.
“You can’t rush it,” Hield told NBC Sports Bay Area. “You want it to be in the flow of the offense. If you force it, the whole team goes out. You want to let things come to you, but still be aggressive. I feel like I can do that.”
Even as Kerr experiments with starting lineups and rotations, it becomes clear that only two players know exactly how they will be used. Curry is the starting point guard and Hield is the Sixth Man. All others are flexible by position or starters/backup status.
Nine days before the season starts, that kind of clarity can breed some serenity.
