Part and parcel of what composed the pretty bloated expectations for the Philadelphia 76ers entering this season were the flashy moves they did in the offseason. From signing Paul George to a max contract, snagging Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr. to bargain bin deals, and taking a last-minute flier on Guerschon Yabusele, the front office reigned supreme as the most active bunch in the league.
Attendant to the additions they made, of course, are the subtractions they did. Philadelphia had more impending free agents than any other team in the league entering free agency, and the front office definitely did not play it softly with any of those playuers, letting majority of them go as part of their drastic roster turnover.
Buddy Hield, whom the 76ers acquired before the trade deadline last season, was one of the players they let venture out to test the free agency waters. The veteran sharpshooter eventually landed a deal in Golden State, nominally replacing Klay Thompson who spurned the Warriors for the Dallas Mavericks.
Warriors are making a Buddy Hield realization the 76ers already know from experience
Hield started off the season scorching hot from the floor, helping catapult Golden State to a rousing start to their campaign. Remember when he even made it in the MVP power rankings? While it may sound crazy, it was certainly justified at the time given his galvanizing play.
But since then, Hield has cooled off pretty sharply. Over the month of December, the 32-year-old guard logged a measly 8.5 points per game, touting a putrid 36.2 percent shooting from the field, including a meager 30.5 percent success rate from rainbow country on huge volume. Steve Kerr did not hesitate dropping him from the starting unit in favor of the newly-acquired Dennis Schröder. Even his teammates have not shied away from expressing their disbelief with his sudden regression.
This development is all too familiar for the 76ers, which Hield played for last season. The veteran similarly started off shooting lights out from the floor only to regress so much to the point where he eventually turned out to be unplayable when the playoffs came.
While undoubtedly one of the league’s best three-point shooters of all time, the firm fact stands that he is a one-dimensional player who becomes easily dispensable when his main selling point is betraying him. The Warriors are finding that out in the worst way possible, as they have stumbled pretty badly since their fluky start.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, letting go of Buddy Hield was clearly the right choice. It was only a matter of time until he showed his true colors — a lethal sharpshooter who disappears for very lengthy stretches without offering much elsewhere.