Buddy Hield: Kings have trust issues

What should we do about Buddy?

  • Nothing. He'll be fine.

  • Make him earn his minutes like everybody else.

  • Trade him.

  • Draw up plays for him.

  • Bench him and give Justin James his minutes.

  • None of the above.


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#31
I could be mistaken, but I believe Grant and Doug touched on that exact thing.
Didn’t care for him being the primary ball handler at that moment, but what really aggravated me was him just nonchalantly dribbling it up as the clock kept ticking down and Walton seemingly doing nothing. Had a bad feeling about the final play from the get go....namely when I saw that it was buddy bringing the ball up lol
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#32
Didn’t care for him being the primary ball handler at that moment, but what really aggravated me was him just nonchalantly dribbling it up as the clock kept ticking down and Walton seemingly doing nothing. Had a bad feeling about the final play from the get go....namely when I saw that it was buddy bringing the ball up lol
Just because we didn't see Luke react doesn't mean he didn't. I've noticed that aside from yanking a player, Walton doesn't scream and yell at them on the court.
 
#33
I've been yelling from the mountain top about the need to draw up some easier offense for him for almost the whole season, lets just hope it's not too late for that. He's clearly mentally checked and searching for someone to help him. Walton actually started to draw up some straight line pick and roll opportunities with a cleared paint late in the Wolves game, we need more that at the start of the game. I think Walton is a great fit for the type of players they have, but he might be playing it too cool right now. It worked earlier in the season but this is already after the rough start so it's now 2 rapid descents in the first few months of the season. This could head into the toilet fast. Once players are lost, they're lost.
 
#34
Just because we didn't see Luke react doesn't mean he didn't. I've noticed that aside from yanking a player, Walton doesn't scream and yell at them on the court.
It's not usual but he's torn into some guys a time or two. I vividly remember both Buddy and Bogdan getting an animated talking to at various points.
 
#35
It’s incredible how things change in the NBA so quickly. This was just 2 weeks ago and everyone was feeling good about the Kings and players were happy and had great chemistry with the coaches.

 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#36
Pretty immature for a 27 year old. He's got his contract so I guess he doesn't care. Not a good role model. Not team first. Certainly not humble - for a guy who can't hit a two-footer he sure is uppity.

I've said for a quite a while now that I'd like to see Justin James get more minutes in lieu of Buddy, but I understood that Walton wanted to show Buddy that he believed in him. Ironic, isn't it? I have two reasons now that I believe James should get some of Buddy's minutes. One, Buddy is playing gawdawful and I doubt very much that James would play worse. Two,if Buddy does sit more on the bench, he might get very angry, which may actually be a good thing. Sometimes, players get so POd at the coach or the other team or whatever that they really forget about their epic shooting slump. Anger replaces fear (of failure). Voila! The shooting slump is gone. Couldn't hurt, as long as Buddy doesn't go public anymore. Maybe Walton has to be Buddy's temporary punching bag so he can actually learn how to shoot again.
 
#37
Pretty immature for a 27 year old. He's got his contract so I guess he doesn't care. Not a good role model. Not team first. Certainly not humble - for a guy who can't hit a two-footer he sure is uppity.

I've said for a quite a while now that I'd like to see Justin James get more minutes in lieu of Buddy, but I understood that Walton wanted to show Buddy that he believed in him. Ironic, isn't it? I have two reasons now that I believe James should get some of Buddy's minutes. One, Buddy is playing gawdawful and I doubt very much that James would play worse. Two,if Buddy does sit more on the bench, he might get very angry, which may actually be a good thing. Sometimes, players get so POd at the coach or the other team or whatever that they really forget about their epic shooting slump. Anger replaces fear (of failure). Voila! The shooting slump is gone. Couldn't hurt, as long as Buddy doesn't go public anymore. Maybe Walton has to be Buddy's temporary punching bag so he can actually learn how to shoot again.
Yeah I agree, Buddy has shown to not have a ton of mental resolve after the contract drama and his rant last night w/ the media. I agree that they should be giving more of his minute to James and give Buddy about a solid 20-25 min and make him earn whatever additional minutes he gets. At this point we can’t trade his contract until the offseason anyways so he has no leverage to rebel at this point knowing we aren’t going to be able to grant any trade requests. Sort it out in the off-season when we see where the pieces fall
 
#38
Making a guy earn it after giving him a payday is idiotic either trade him or wait till he comes out of his slump, they should have made him earn it this year before giving him 26million per season or whatever sum they gave him.
 
#40
Making a guy earn it after giving him a payday is idiotic either trade him or wait till he comes out of his slump, they should have made him earn it this year before giving him 26million per season or whatever sum they gave him.
I disagree, he is still being given time on the floor as is, enough time to see if he was bringing it or not. Make no mistake down 3 with 20 seconds left with the ball....He's probably in. But the last few minutes where we may need some defense, coach has to make a judgement call and he should understand that.

He may be years in league young, but he's old for his career, should know better.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#42
just another one of those moments where the emotion gets the best of Buddy. I think he feels the pressure to live up to his contract and get those extra incentives in it and by the way he's been slumping, it's a tough hill to climb. With that said, he needs to dribble the ball less and simply get a spot up shot or one or two dribble pull ups and nothing more. otherwise, he isn't being properly utilized and the Kings would be better off trading him for a two guard who can handle better.
 
#43
I wonder if we can get Ray Allen in here to work out with Buddy in the off-season. Allen was a master at getting to his spots on the floor and moving without the ball. He never tried to be a playmaker. Hield seems to think when Fox isn’t playing that he should be the guy initiating the offense. He should be trying to emulate what Allen spent a career doing.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#44
Making a guy earn it after giving him a payday is idiotic either trade him or wait till he comes out of his slump, they should have made him earn it this year before giving him 26million per season or whatever sum they gave him.
What's idiotic is playing someone solely because they have a big paycheck. If he's not doing his job, why on earth would you keep having him do it, especially at the expense of other players who could easily contribute more?
 
#46
What's idiotic is playing someone solely because they have a big paycheck. If he's not doing his job, why on earth would you keep having him do it, especially at the expense of other players who could easily contribute more?
They're not going to bench him for Justin James though, it's just not going to happen. Maybe you continue cutting some of Buddy's minutes (as they have been doing) but you don't bench him for a rookie second rounder who in all likelihood isn't that good. The idea of Justin James is probably better than James himself......although who knows stranger things have happened.

Buddy is playing like pure garbage most of this season but let's not forget he was really good last year.
 
#49
I don't know if Kings have trust issue but I haven't been watching Kings lately. What I notice is that they have IQ issues. For example, there is one game where they need a 2pts to win with 5secs left and Bogie was getting the ball from inbound and as soon as he got it, rise up and shoot a 3pt in a contested shot and missed, game over. But the problem with that shot is that first of all, you have 5 secs, plenty of time, why shoot that early? Second, Buddy Hield was hot and actually looking at the reply (Buddy was somewhat open near Bogi), Bogi could have thrown the ball to him and let him shoot instead of taking that quick shot. So that's just a terrible decision imo...almost like hero ball to me. Is this trust issue or IQ? I don't know. I don't think the Kings are a smart group (collectively), especially when it comes to close game situation. They tend to have a group that play up to the opponents strength. If they're up, they tend to chill and only pick up when they're behind...that is a mental habit that exist in the core group.
 
#50
What's idiotic is playing someone solely because they have a big paycheck. If he's not doing his job, why on earth would you keep having him do it, especially at the expense of other players who could easily contribute more?
I've said to trade him even before the season began if you don't play him in indicates a clear rift where other teams can low ball you, either you play or trade him he's not a younger player where he has to "earn it".
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#51
It’s incredible how things change in the NBA so quickly. This was just 2 weeks ago and everyone was feeling good about the Kings and players were happy and had great chemistry with the coaches.

To be fair, I've never followed the Suns fanbase so I have no idea how fickle they might be, but the Kings fanbase these days is basically inclined to manic depression, with an emphasis on depression. If a guy has a bad game, he's a bust. If a guy has FOUR bad games? OMG. Take him around behind the barn and shoot him, ASAP.

Incredible? Nah. It's par for the course for Kings fans. We haven't been in the playoffs since who the heck knows when. Patience is over and gone. Perspective is over and gone. Am I disappointed in the team? Yes. Am I disappointed in the fanbase? Far more. Far, far more.
 
#53
The thing about Buddy is that he is trying to shot himself out of a slump, but he is also shooting the Kings into a long losing streak and team slump.

He is not Kobe or Harden. He should not be trying to dribble himself into shooting position to score. He should be moving and cutting without the ball and set up and shoot.

Letting Buddy handle the ball for any extended amount of time is going to result in a turnover or an off balance shot by Buddy. Buddy should be moving and cutting to get open to take set shots.
 
#54
To be fair, I've never followed the Suns fanbase so I have no idea how fickle they might be, but the Kings fanbase these days is basically inclined to manic depression, with an emphasis on depression. If a guy has a bad game, he's a bust. If a guy has FOUR bad games? OMG. Take him around behind the barn and shoot him, ASAP.

Incredible? Nah. It's par for the course for Kings fans. We haven't been in the playoffs since who the heck knows when. Patience is over and gone. Perspective is over and gone. Am I disappointed in the team? Yes. Am I disappointed in the fanbase? Far more. Far, far more.
Kings Fans after this last game:


 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#55
To also be fair, the former has earned disappointment far, far more than the latter. Many KINGS fans, myself included, have been patient for 35 seasons. Where’s the payoff? Where’s the reward? Instead, it’s always same $#/+ different season.
Well, the Kings were the best team in the league for about two-three years there, they just didn't manage to win a championship, once because the refs destroyed them, once because Webber's knee blew up. In a (now) 30-team league if you can be the best team in the league for something between about 1/17 and 1/12 of the time (by definition, league average is 1/30), you're probably doing pretty good, especially for a small-market team.

Here's a list of teams that haven't won a championship in the 35 years since the Kings moved to Sacramento:

76ers
Bucks
Clippers
Grizzlies (25 years)
Hawks
Hornets (v.2, 16 years)
Jazz
Kings
Knicks
Magic (31 years)
Nets
Nuggets
Pacers
Pelicans (+Hornets v.1, 32 years)
Suns
Thunder (+Sonics)
Timberwolves (31 years)
Trailblazers
Wizards (+Bullets)

Here's a list of teams that HAVE won a championship:

Lakers (8)
Bulls (6)
Spurs (5)
Heat (3)
Pistons (3)
Warriors (3)
Celtics (2)
Rockets (2)
Cavaliers (1)
Mavericks (1)
Raptors (1)

The list of "haves" is small, and the list of "have-a-lots" is quite small. The list of "have-nots" is big, and we're in it, along with 18 other franchises, 13 of whom have existed the entire time. Just 7 months ago, it could be said that fully 2/3 of the NBA had not won a championship since the Kings moved to Sacramento. It's not like we're the only team out there struggling to make our mark in the NBA. As bad as we've been, there are five teams (Clippers, Wizards/Bullets, Nets, Grizzlies, T'Wolves) who have a worse W/L% than us over that timeframe, three of which don't even have the small-market excuse.

Bottom line, if you're putting in the effort to be a fan of a small-market team in the NBA hoping for a "payoff", you've picked the wrong team in the wrong sport.
 
#56
Making a guy earn it after giving him a payday is idiotic either trade him or wait till he comes out of his slump, they should have made him earn it this year before giving him 26million per season or whatever sum they gave him.
I guess we should be playing deadmon then instead of him earning his minutes
 
#57
I guess we should be playing deadmon then instead of him earning his minutes
If Holmes wasn't playing the way he was, Dedmon would have gotten a longer leash.

Buddy doesn't have anyone to take his minutes. Maybe cut them down a bit, but a limping Bogi and cold shooting Yogi can only do so much.
I love Justin James' attitude and hustle, and like seeing him get a few quick runs to energize the team. But he is a non shooting threat on a team already lacking offense.
 
#59
I guess we should be playing deadmon then instead of him earning his minutes
No off course not, he's making half of what Buddy makes and is not a "core piece" and has no value, like II said I'e been in the trade Buddy camp since prior to the season. But benching a guy making 20mil+ next year is not the solution. I'm the last to defend Buddy but right now you either let him play though it or put a knife into it you can't bench him.
 
#60
Not the first time Buddy has acted like this. He’s really going to get himself a one way ticket out of here, which is fine with me. There’s one thing I don’t tolerate and it’s stuff like this. You’re not Lebron or Kobe or Jordan that the team can put up with this kind of behavior. Vlade traded away a way better player than Buddy because of stuff like this.