Los Angeles Lakers: Buddy Hield At No. 3 Overall?
Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield is a premier two-way guard with a sniper-deadly stroke and clutch capability — just the kind of player the Los Angeles Lakers need.
Despite it only being February, the top two picks in this year’s NBA Draft are virtually set.
LSU freshman phenom Ben Simmons has had his No. 1 spot sewed up for a while now, but fellow freshman Brandon Ingram has begun staking his claim to the second slot on the list of top draft prospects and the second overall pick in the draft.
Ideally, the Los Angeles Lakers would want to land one of these two players come June with one of the two top picks. On the flipside, the team’s pick must land in the top three or they’ll lose it to the Philadelphia 76ers.
While the chances of the team landing in the top two are good, there is one other scenario the Lakers face that few are talking about: What if the Lakers get the third overall pick?
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Simmons and Ingram will all but certainly be off the board by that point, leaving general manager Mitch Kupchak to choose from a mix of decently talented prospects.
Players like Bosnian stretch-4 Dragan Bender, Providence point guard Kris Dunn and Cal forward Ivan Rabb seem to be in contention for the third spot, but none of them look like a fit on the Lakers’ roster as presently constructed. The team’s two greatest needs are a rim protector and a talented two-way wing to help fill the gaping hole that will be left by Kobe Bryant‘s departure this offseason.
With reports that the team has Hassan Whiteside at the top of their free agent priority list for this summer and no great rim protectors on the board until later in the draft, the Lakers will more than likely aim to get the latter should they get the third pick.
In that instance, there’s no better option for the Lakers than Oklahoma senior guard Buddy Hield.
Hield has been a familiar player to college basketball fans for a while now, but has become a household name in his senior season due to his ability to score and score in bunches from just about anywhere on the court. His 26.2 points per game with an absurd shooting split of .528/.524/.908 make him a surefire Naismith Award finalist, if not the frontrunner for the award.
Even more than that, Hield has shown an ability to embrace the spotlight and to not only show up, but show out in big games.
He’s averaging 24.8 points per game in six contests against ranked opponents in which the Sooners have gone 5-1. On top of that, he’s had some phenomenal scoring performances including a 46-point explosion in a triple overtime loss to Kansas and a 32-point night in a close win over Simmons and the LSU Tigers.
As Stephen A. Smith would say, Hield is big time, and it’s high time NBA scouts gave him credit for it.
At the third spot overall, the Lakers are going to be hard pressed to find a more complete player who can be both a player in their future and an instant contributor who can help them get better right away.
Hield’s hair-trigger, deadly accurate shot will make him a potent catch-and-shoot threat at the least, but he has shown enough precision on contested ones to make scouts believe he can be an immediate scoring option on whatever team he lands on. This would prove to be a perfect fit as the Lakers are desperate for a consistent shooter and a scoring threat on the wing, a need that will only grow once the Black Mamba hangs them up.
Hield’s no slouch on the defensive end either; his 1.4 steals a game show a player who can affect the game on both sides of the floor.
The Lakers would likely want to play Hield at the 3 and, despite being slightly undersized at 6’4″ and 215 pounds, has the IQ and NBA readiness to translate to the league.
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Hield paired with point guard D’Angelo Russell could form one of the better shooting duos in the league down the road, and he would finally provide the Lakers with a player they could lean on consistently on offense.
For a team looking to get better in the present and build for the future, the Lakers would be hard pressed to find a better player to take with the third overall pick than Buddy Hield.