Buddy Hield’s role as sixth man poised to maximize Warriors’ potential – NBC Sports Bay Area and California

SAN FRANCISCO – In four preseason games, 11 different Warriors have started at least one game. Some have years of experience, others only months, and none are the team’s second-best shooter.

The omission of Buddy Hield is intentional. It is also a clear indication.

Although Hield hasn’t been officially announced as Golden State’s new sixth man, every barbershop, butcher shop and basketball shop can tell that this will be his role. Here he is more valuable to the Warriors.

A career 40 percent 3-point shooter, Hield fits the profile of the NBA’s dangerous sixth man. Like Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams – the only three-time winners of this award in the league – Hield puts opponents on alert with his shooting ability the moment he leaves the bench and heads to the scorer’s table to check in.

“He looks like that, doesn’t he?” coach Steve Kerr said Sunday night after a 111-93 Detroit Pistons win at Chase Center. “He comes off the bench and you can feel his impact straight away. He’s not shy. We need that. We need a goalscorer off the bench and he has been fantastic in his first four games. I’m really excited about Buddy.

“And this role makes a lot of sense for him.”

It’s the only role that makes perfect sense for Hield, who turns 32 in December. He will have one fundamental task: to get open with all his might and get the ball through the basket.

And Hield, who has made 412 starts in 632 career games, appears ready for that role.

“It doesn’t matter at all whether I start or come off the bench,” Hield told NBC Sports Bay Area. “Whatever the team asks of me, I just want to be effective in my role and perform at the highest level possible.”

In four preseason games, Hield has put up unsustainable numbers, averaging 12.2 points and 16.5 minutes. After scoring 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting, including 4 of 6 from distance over 13 minutes on Sunday, he is averaging 12.2 points per game. He shoots 60 percent (18 of 30) from the field, including 59.1 percent (13 of 22) from distance.

On a 36-minute basis, that’s a highly efficient 27 points per game.

Once Kerr gets the rotation up to normal, Hield can expect to play 25 to 30 minutes a night, with slight variations based on his efficiency. That’s what Kerr envisioned last season when he moved longtime starter Klay Thompson to the sixth man role. Klay reluctantly accepted it as it didn’t warm his heart.

The idea is the same now as it was then: give the Warriors an elite scorer who can play with Stephen Curry and, moreover, without him. To be the leading scorer when Curry is on the bench, which will be about 15 minutes per game.

“I expect that Buddy will be on the floor at the start of the regular season if Steph is not there,” Kerr said before the announcement. “For obvious reasons.”

The Hield-Thompson comparisons are valid. In Klay’s final three seasons with Golden State, he shot 39.7 percent from beyond the arc. In Buddy’s final three seasons – with the Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers – he shot 39.2 percent from deep.

Thompson was 683 of 1,719 from beyond the arc while Hield was 769 of 1961. Only Curry, who tallied 915 hits during that span, had more triples than Buddy.

Hield already seems prepared for the mentality he will need in his role. Try to score, but don’t fall into a shot-thirst trap.

“You can’t rush it,” Hield told NBC Sports Bay Area. “You want it to be in the flow of the offense. If you force it, the whole team becomes unbalanced. You want to let things come to you, but still be aggressive. I feel like I can do this.”

Even as Kerr experiments with starting lineups and rotations, it’s clear that only two players know exactly how to use them. Curry is the starting point guard and Hield is the sixth man. Everyone else is flexible regarding position or starter/reserve status.

Nine days before the season begins, such clarity can bring a certain level of calm.

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