#4: Buddy Hield, Indiana Pacers
Buddy Hield is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters of this generation. Since being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2016, only Steph Curry has made more 3-pointers, and his career 40.1 three-point percentage ranks fourth among active players with at least 1,000 attempts.
He has a career-scoring average of 16 points per game, but he’s averaging just 13.3 points in 25.5 minutes per game this season. Both qualify as his lowest marks in each category since the 2017-18 season.
A blocked midrange jumper by TJ McConnell leads to a 3 by Buddy Hield...nothing you can do about this Pacers offense when they start heating up pic.twitter.com/J02HwFSbW5
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) December 5, 2023
The only problem with Hield (which can be a big one depending on roster construction) is he doesn’t provide much outside of scoring. He isn’t a good rebounder and rarely looks to pass the rock. Despite this anecdote, his elite sniper skills would make him an ideal trade target for a team in desperate need of 3-point shooting, such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, or Orlando Magic, all of whom rank in the bottom ten in the NBA in 3-point percentage.
Hield’s name is one that seems to be mentioned in the rumor mill every season, regardless of the team he plays for, although he’s only actually been traded twice. The Indiana Pacers are the highest-scoring team in the league but rank near the bottom of the league on defense.
With Hield’s contributions on the end of the floor lacking, to put it mildly, he is likely the odd man out as the Pacers look for ways to improve and take another step forward in their team development.