Buddy Hield CANNOT start.

#61
I don't pay much attention to his Instagram but is there a chance buddy just likes everything with his name on it?
twitter... I was curious so scrolled thru his recent likes and this is the only other thing about himself that he liked recently:

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only other kings related posts he liked were one congratulating Justin Jackson’s deal w OKC, one congratulating Fox’s extension, one about Bogi to the Bucks (lol) and another about Bogi to the Hawks
 
#62
My guess is that the Kings were only getting lowball offers for Buddy with teams thinking they could grab a disgruntled player who was pushed out of the starting lineup at a discount, especially with a new front office in place.

If so, I think the message McNair have Buddy and his agent was that the offense was going to be retooled to play to his strengths and it was in everybody's best interest for Hield to start and put up good numbers. Either it makes him happy to stay in Sacramento or it raises his trade value.

But McNair does have one good GM skill down which is answering questions without really saying anything and keeping his cards close to his vest. Hard to say if he actually sees Buddy as a long term piece or just wants to be patient and get a good deal to move him.
One of monte’s billed strengths was communicating well with players and FO alike to get people on the same page, so this could be a test of it. I think players only just reported the past few days so we’ve got awhile to see what the organization can actually accomplish now that Buddy is (presumably) back in sac
 
#63
My guess is that the Kings were only getting lowball offers for Buddy with teams thinking they could grab a disgruntled player who was pushed out of the starting lineup at a discount, especially with a new front office in place.

If so, I think the message McNair have Buddy and his agent was that the offense was going to be retooled to play to his strengths and it was in everybody's best interest for Hield to start and put up good numbers. Either it makes him happy to stay in Sacramento or it raises his trade value.

But McNair does have one good GM skill down which is answering questions without really saying anything and keeping his cards close to his vest. Hard to say if he actually sees Buddy as a long term piece or just wants to be patient and get a good deal to move him.
Plus, the desire of trading for someone who would potentially be much more productive and efficient in Buddy Hield would be so much higher come the trade deadline, I can see any contender team on the verge of doing some serious work in the Playoffs taking a hard look at having an elite 3-point scorer. Right now it's all pen and paper, no one would put down substantial equity right now.
 
#64
Monte seems like he would rather stay quiet than lie about something. So when he says he likes Buddy and thinks Buddy is elite, I believe him.

The word is teams were making offers for Buddy, but the offers were not good enough for McNair. So he chose to let Bogi walk for nothing instead and keep Buddy. If that's not an endorsement of Buddy, I don't know what is. That being said, McNair would still trade Buddy if the right deal comes along, but I don't think he's actively trying to get rid of him.
 
#65
twitter... I was curious so scrolled thru his recent likes and this is the only other thing about himself that he liked recently:

View attachment 10262

only other kings related posts he liked were one congratulating Justin Jackson’s deal w OKC, one congratulating Fox’s extension, one about Bogi to the Bucks (lol) and another about Bogi to the Hawks
Whoever that guy is he isn't serious using lol emojis.
 
#67
Anybody ever consider that maybe Buddy just hates losing? Imagine you're an elite shooter, have great work ethic, and are an NBA level talent: Would you want to come off the bench for a bad team?
 
#70
You’d think his great work ethic would help him learn how to dribble like the ball isn’t a square in his hands.
I'm kinda surprised he got this far without developing a better handle. It's one thing if he focused on being a spot up shooter but he actually wants to do more even though he doesn't do it well.
 
#73
Give me a break.

I’ll admit this quip can actually apply in any Bagley thread, and I’m one of the jerks it goes to. But it has no place here. Buddy’s been a pain about his role, Buddy likes to run his mouth, and Buddy is a great shooter but otherwise flawed player. Are we supposed to look the other way and just blindly cheer?
Based on the Cousins experience, apparently yes. Heck, some of y'all cheer for the Lakers just cos Cuz went there. Not trying to turn this into a good fan, bad fan thing, just saying neither side should pretend there's such a thing as a perfect fan
 
#74
Give me a break.

I’ll admit this quip can actually apply in any Bagley thread, and I’m one of the jerks it goes to. But it has no place here. Buddy’s been a pain about his role, Buddy likes to run his mouth, and Buddy is a great shooter but otherwise flawed player. Are we supposed to look the other way and just blindly cheer?
I get it. He doesn't make fans feel warm and cozy. He's flawed, just like every single other player on the team. To each his own on when a players flaws matter to us and when we can look the other way.
 
#82
Give me a break.

I’ll admit this quip can actually apply in any Bagley thread, and I’m one of the jerks it goes to. But it has no place here. Buddy’s been a pain about his role, Buddy likes to run his mouth, and Buddy is a great shooter but otherwise flawed player. Are we supposed to look the other way and just blindly cheer?
Buddy's mouth has been annoying but he hasn't really necessarily been wrong. He was easily the best SG on the team and pairing him with Fox while pairing Bogdan with CoJo made all the sense in the world. Not to mention he was the leading scorer on the best Kings team we've had in over a decade. Then Walton stepped in and crapped on all of that because of a few poor games to start the season from Buddy.

I'm dealing with the same thing at work right now. Everything was fine and then a new boss got hired and started making changes. Now everyone is stressed, overworked, less efficient and angry. For no good reason whatsoever. It's all self inflicted by one person making poor decisions. We talk about it all the time at work so it's not much different with basketball players. Main difference is that they have media coverage, which makes it seem like people are complaining more than they really are.

I don't blame Buddy at all for being angry about it. Every player on this team is flawed. That doesn't mean they aren't allowed to be angry when they are being used incorrectly by an inept coach that is wasting years of their careers.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#83
^^I don’t disagree with anything you said. And my point wasn’t to just blindly bash on Buddy either. My point was a Buddy Hield thread with some legit criticisms isn’t the place for a sarcastic “Best fans, huh” soapbox. Save that for when we’re being actually toxic (less so here) about our own (Sup, Marv). This thread isn’t that.
 
#84
^^I don’t disagree with anything you said. And my point wasn’t to just blindly bash on Buddy either. My point was a Buddy Hield thread with some legit criticisms isn’t the place for a sarcastic “Best fans, huh” soapbox. Save that for when we’re being actually toxic (less so here) about our own (Sup, Marv). This thread isn’t that.
I get where you're coming from because no player is above criticism but it just seems to be like this board is turning on Buddy the same way they did on IT in the past. A lot of it is legit criticism and a lot of it is irrational. The about face on him over the course of a year where he was misused is a bit concerning. Especially since he wasn't even all that bad during his misused year either.

It's kind of like if Luke started running the offense through Holmes like he was Webber or Divac. Do we rag on Holmes for not being an exceptional passer or do we rag on Luke for mismanaging him? Buddy makes a lot of stupid unforced turnovers but he makes a heck of a lot less when he's used correctly. The stats back that up as well. He had about 20 more turnovers last year while playing about 400 less minutes. That's on Luke.
 
#85
There is a reason some players are traded a lot. They sow discontent. They complain a lot. It can be contagious. It is not what you want on your team or in the locker room. Every team can use a shooter. He would be easy to trade somewhere.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#86
What makes no sense to me is the constant double standard. Some players are elevated to the point where they get praised for managing to execute basic basketball skills on the court and others get criticized no matter what they do. For example, we have a thread here with a highlight video of Bagley hitting wide open threes, dribbling the ball up the court and laying it in off the glass, and finishing assisted dunks (cue Grant Napear having a heart attack he's so breathlessly excited) and a substantial portion of the fans vote that he's "most likely going to be a star in the NBA" meanwhile Buddy is statistically the best shooter not named Steph Curry for the past three years in terms of percentage and volume and we're talking about trading him for whatever we can get or benching him because of what he does on Twitter. It's just bizarre. And it's been like this for decades.

I'm not saying Buddy is a perfect player and there are legit reasons to test the market to see if we can unload our big contracts and build around our younger players but the idea that Buddy is somehow a team cancer because he thinks he deserves to start is baffling. Unless you're 7 feet tall and built like a bronzed god you don't get to the NBA without a healthy dose of ego. We all know Buddy puts in the work to back it up. Obviously he has flaws as a player, everyone does. DeAaron Fox shot 29% on threes last season... he has to be better than that. But for whatever reason Fox's flaws aren't used as a crucible to hold his feet up to the flames and Buddy's are.

Sacramento fans are known for their passion but passion can get ugly when it's directed against our own players instead of the other team. I don't think it makes us bad fans but I do think it's unfortunate when the targets who get picked on the most really don't deserve it, which is almost always the case. Spencer Hawes wore a Seattle hat to the arena while playing for the Kings in the middle of the relocation scandal. I'm happy he got booed. He deserved it. Most of the time though it's just fans inventing a storyline to justify why our Kings aren't in first place every year and then holding the percieved perpetrators responsible in kangaroo court. That's a level of passion I think we could do without.
 
#88
...Then Walton stepped in and crapped on all of that because of a few poor games to start the season from Buddy...
But this is not what happened though. Buddy was benched game 45 not after few poor games to start the season. the team was 3-14 I beleive before the benching with Fox and Hield starting. then after the lineup change, the team went 13-7.

Arguing that this was a detrimental move is arguing that somehow the team that was 3-14 since Fox came back was suddenly going to go better than 13-7 in the next 20, but Walton messed it all up by changing the starting lineup.
 
#89
I'm kinda surprised he got this far without developing a better handle. It's one thing if he focused on being a spot up shooter but he actually wants to do more even though he doesn't do it well.
I think I've noticed a big improvement from Buddy in his ball handling since his rookie season. Of course, big improvement doesn't mean he's reached a level of competence.
I've even wondered if Walton's misuse of Buddy last year may have been the result of Vlade wanting Buddy to become the $100 million player he got duped into paying. If so, that doesn't excuse Walton from being a 2nd rate coach. It would just add another layer of complexity in trying to understand why the Kings continue to baffle and underperform.
 

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#90
But this is not what happened though. Buddy was benched game 45 not after few poor games to start the season. the team was 3-14 I beleive before the benching with Fox and Hield starting. then after the lineup change, the team went 13-7.

Arguing that this was a detrimental move is arguing that somehow the team that was 3-14 since Fox came back was suddenly going to go better than 13-7 in the next 20, but Walton messed it all up by changing the starting lineup.
It was a blip. The Bubble proved it. When games got real all of Waltons fumbling and stumbling blew up right in his face. Got his GM fired and so far in more than a few of the preseason interviews I've seen has most of the press and players talking as if Gentry is the coach already. This is going to be interesting. Walton is a true underdog this season.