Washington Wizards Receive: G/F Buddy Hield, F Robert Woodard II
Sacramento Kings Receive: F Kyle Kuzma, F Davis Bertans, WAS 2025 1st Round Pick (Top-8 Protected)
On draft night, there were heavy discussions about the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings being involved in a trade that would send Buddy Hield to L.A. for a trade package, including Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, and other assets. Still, this trade fell through after the Lakers agreed to a trade with the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook instead.
Now, Buddy Hield remains on the Kings roster, but his status moving forward is very uncertain since the team had a deal in place to move him off their roster. Things are awkward for Hield and the Kings now, which is why trading him makes the most sense for this organization.
Sacramento was highly interested in moving Hield to the Lakers to get him and his contract off their roster. Still, the Kings are really high on because they were getting Kyle Kuzma in return, who is a relatively young forward.
Through his first four seasons in the NBA, Kuzma has averaged 15.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and shot 44.8% from the floor, making him a key player for the Kings to possibly add next to De’Aaron Fox other young talents on their roster.
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It is not too crazy to think that Washington could flip Kuzma and throw in Davis Bertans for Buddy Hield, especially since Hield presents more upside for them next to Bradley Beal. Bertans is another sharpshooter on the perimeter, but he has four years and $65M remaining on his contract, which is something the Wizards would likely want to move.
Bradley Beal is going to be up for a supermax contract extension in the offseason and to ensure they are not paying a lot of luxury taxes and are stable financially, moving Bertans could be beneficial to the Wizards.
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Seeing as Kuzma cannot be moved until September 28 at the earliest, this trade would not happen until after the 2021-22 season begins, giving Washington time to figure out if they want to keep Bertans and Kuzma.
Whether it is to Washington or another team, it seems likely that Buddy Hield will be traded at some point during the 2021-22 season, so let’s take a look at if this trade truly does make sense for both the Kings and Washington Wizards.
