San Antonio Spurs should avoid being tempted into trading for Buddy Hield

The San Antonio Spurs can safely decline any calls from the Kings this summer

While the nationwide conversation was more focused on Damian Lillard’s heroics and Devin Booker’s heroic push to get the Phoenix Suns into the playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs were quietly one of the most exciting teams during the NBA restart in Orlando.

A big part of the excitement around the Spurs was the play of Derrick White. After a regular season where he was used in more of a bench role, White seized a place in the starting lineup and became one of San Antonio’s best players down the stretch. A lot of his success could be attributed to his ridiculous jump in 3-point attempts.

During the first stretch of the regular season, it was the norm to see White put up three or four shots from deep per night. Now, all of a sudden, he was a volume shooter from behind the arc. This was huge for the Spurs. While they were one of the most accurate teams in the league from behind the arc, they struggled to get the volume of deep shots that other teams did.

White’s emergence as a threat from behind the arc is a step in the right direction for San Antonio but he alone won’t solve their problems. Another option could be going after the Sacramento Kings Buddy Hield who, according to a report from Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee, could be put on the trade block this summer. That would be a huge mistake.

The San Antonio Spurs should absolutely not trade for Buddy Hield

According to Anderson’s report, the Kings are having a bit of buyer’s remorse with Hield.

“A league executive told The Bee the Kings erred in overpaying Hield, Harrison Barnes and other players over the past few years. Hield will be paid $24.4 million next season in the first year of his new deal.”

Hield is walking into the first year of a 4-year, $94 million dollar deal. He’s a strong asset for any team to have, but not at that price.

Buddy Buckets would help the Spurs from behind the arc. He put up the second-most 3-pointers in the league this year, just a bit behind James Harden. He’s not just chucking them either, he knocks down an impressive 39.4 percent of his attempts.

The issues with Hield are his defense and his exorbitant contract. The Spurs just finished one of their worst defensive seasons in the league but finally, look like they’re working their way back to place of respectability on that end of the floor. With the improvement that White has made behind the arc and the promise that Keldon Johnson has shown, adding a sub-par defensive player like Hield solely for his 3-point shooting doesn’t make sense.

It’s really the contract situation that puts it over the top. The San Antonio Spurs are poised to have a ton of cap space during the summer of 2021. That summer is going to be a big game hunting fiesta like we’ve almost never seen before. The Spurs likely won’t land the free agents at the top of the class but gumming up their books with a player who they don’t necessarily need at this point would just be foolish.

Buddy Hield is an impressive player and someone should try to scoop him away from the Sacramento Kings. But under no circumstances should that someone be the San Antonio Spurs.