Buddy Hield – Sacramento Kings
Dallas is shooting 32.7% from three-point range this season, 6th worst in the league, and their key offseason signings that were great three-point shooters a year ago have really struggled. Both Reggie Bullock (41%) and Sterling Brown (42.3%) shot above 40% from three-point range last season with the Knicks and Rockets respectively, but Bullock is only shooting 31.9% from deep this season and Brown is shooting just 34.2%.
With Tim Hardaway Jr. out indefinitely, the Mavericks are even weaker out on the perimeter offensively, which is why Buddy Hield could solve a lot of their shooting woes.
Hield is under contract through the 2023-24 season and is owed a total of $61.5M, which is not favorable whatsoever to Dallas, but he is exactly the kind of scoring weapon that they need to add on the perimeter next to Luka Doncic.
So far this season, Buddy Hield has recorded 642 points off the bench, the second-most in the league behind only Jordan Clarkson, and the sharpshooting wing ranks second in three-point made (171), trailing only Stephen Curry (209).
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Buddy Hield Named Realistic Trade Target For The Dallas Mavericks
The Kings have been rebuilding for years and it is said that they are not only open to trading Harrison Barnes and Marvin Bagley III at the trade deadline this season, but Buddy Hield as well. In fact, the team almost traded Hield this past offseason to the Los Angeles Lakers before the Lakers turned around and traded for Russell Westbrook from Washington instead.
Other than being a three-point shooting threat, Buddy Hield does not bring much to the table for the Kings, which is why getting out of his $60M+ contract is something that they are looking to do.
Due to the fact that he is making $23M this season, the Mavericks would have to be willing to move some contracts around to make this trade with the Kings and possibly a third or fourth team added on work, but they could easily move guys like Dwight Powell ($11M), Reggie Bullock ($9.5M) and Trey Burke ($3.1M) to make things easier on themselves financially and also stay under the tax line for the year.
Buddy Hield would be an excellent addition to the Dallas Mavericks this season and moving forward given his three-point shooting abilities, but they need a lot more than another three-point shooter.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Buddy Hield Named Realistic Trade Target For The Dallas Mavericks
There is no doubt that Buddy Hield would make this team better, however, the Mavericks are still lacking star-power on their roster. Phoenix has Booker, Paul and Ayton, Golden State has Curry, Thompson, Wiggins and Green, and other teams in the Western Conference have pairs of All-Stars.
With the inconsistencies that surround Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic really being the only star on this team, the Mavericks problems run deeper than their lack of three-point shooting.
