Grading the recent rookie extension deals handed out across NBA

(Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
(Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

2. Buddy Hield: Four years, $106 million

De’Aaron Fox may be the face of the franchise, but nobody embodied the Sacramento Kings unexpected 39-win season from a year ago more than Buddy Hield.

The former Sooner experienced his best season to date, during which his scoring numbers exploded along with shooting numbers rivaling anyone in the league. Only two players in 2018-19 took seven or more 3-pointers a game and shot over 42.0 percent. One was Stephen Curry. The other was Buddy Hield.

As the extension deadline neared, Hield wasn’t one to mince words regarding the money he felt he had earned following a career-best season. The Kings eventually obliged, agreeing to a four-year deal worth up to $106 million per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

At 26 years of age, Hield may be older than most of his fellow draft mates, but he still has plenty of room to grow as both a scorer and all-around player. Given his most recent leap, Hield is well on his way to getting there.

Sacramento isn’t exactly a hot-spot destination for free agents — as Hield himself so eloquently put it. Whatever talent is in house should be kept to foster progress. In their newfound pursuit of a playoff berth, the Kings made sure to keep their core intact — for now — to continue funding that long-awaited end of the league’s longest current postseason drought.

Grade: A