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Warriors' Buddy Hield gets 100% real about Stephen Curry tandem nickname
07/19/2024 12:05 AM
Losing a franchise icon in free agency is never easy for a fanbase or the members of the organization. This offseason, this was exactly what the Golden State Warriors had to go through after they let Klay Thompson walk to the Dallas Mavericks via sign-and-trade. But life goes on, even after breakups. The Dubs rebounded quickly, securing one of the all-time great shooters in Buddy Hield to approximate Thompson’s floor-spacing impact as one half of the legendary Splash Brothers duo with Stephen Curry.
While nothing will ever replace the Splash Brothers in the hearts of Warriors fans, Hield should be a fan favorite from the get-go given how audacious he tends to get with his three-point shot selection — and he has the accuracy from beyond the arc to match that level of confidence. In fact, fans have already dubbed the Hield and Curry backcourt as the newly-formed Splash Buddies — a wonderful moniker.
Nonetheless, while Buddy Hield appreciates the love from the fans, he is focusing on getting to work and earning that tandem nickname — especially when he has large shoes to fill in the aftermath of Klay Thompson’s departure.
“I don't see nothing wrong with it but we just gotta take it day by day. Let it come,” Hield said with a huge smile on his face in an interview with 95.7 The Game.
How does Buddy Hield feel about him and Steph being called the Splash Buddies?
"I don't see nothing wrong with it but we just gotta take it day by day." pic.twitter.com/a1Uoth2WIU
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) July 18, 2024
At the moment, there remains plenty of uncertainty surrounding the Warriors, basketball-wise. After a disappointing 2023-24 season in which they missed the playoffs, fans are starting to come to terms with the realization that their team may not recapture the heights they reached during the peak of their dynastic run.
Buddy Hield, however, has a chance to etch his name in Warriors lore by doing his part in staving off this fall from grace. And perhaps by then, he’ll feel as though he has earned the Splash Buddies nickname alongside Stephen Curry.
Warriors fans are going to love Buddy Hield
When Stephen Curry began to capture everyone’s hearts by storm in his breakout 2012-13 season, he was an offensive marvel whose range stretched to game-breaking distances. His confidence seeped through every action of his on the hardwood, and he backed it up with as much skill as anyone has displayed in NBA history.
Buddy Hield may not have the same impact; he is not very good as a finisher, a dribbler, and he is somehow a worse defender than Curry is. But what Hield guarantees is a barrage of three-pointers and some jaw-dropping heat check moments. He made two or more triples in 60 of the 84 games he suited up in last season, and despite coming off the bench in half of those games, he still finished with 219 triples on the season — an elite number especially for someone whose role was in flux.
Hield has made 200 or more triples for every season since the 2018-19 campaign, peaking with 288 during the 2022-23 season when he was still a full-time starter for the Indiana Pacers.
As far as catch-and-shoot, movement shooters go, it’s difficult for the Warriors to get someone better-suited to replace Klay Thompson than Hield. He will, indeed, make it rain for the Warriors, and those low-post split actions involving screening actions between Stephen Curry and Hield will be very difficult to contain. Hield should get a new lease in life as well, with his popularity set to soar while playing in front of one of the most passionate fanbases in the NBA today.
Will Hield start for the Dubs?
The question, however, is just what role will Buddy Hield play for the Warriors after signing a two-year, $21 million deal with the team. Hield did not come alone in the Dubs’ free agency shopping spree. The Warriors also brought in De’Anthony Melton, another former Philadelphia 76ers guard, and Melton is more defensively-inclined, making it a possibility that the Dubs start Melton instead.
The Warriors also have a few guards who all deserve minutes in Brandin Podziemski, a man the front office and coaching staff are very high on — in fact, it was Podziemski who started in place of Klay Thompson when the Dubs were searching for answers last season. Moses Moody and Gary Payton II will also make their cases to receive minutes on the wing, which could cut into Hield’s minutes.
But Hield, at the very least, provides a different dimension to the lineup as another three-point specialist who would give the Warriors offense some elite spacing — a perfect fit for when they go small like Steve Kerr usually does. The shooting guard training camp battle will be interesting to monitor, and there may very well be trades left for the Warriors to do anyway that could drastically alter the outlook of the team.
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