The departure of Klay Thompson coincided with the arrival of Buddy Hield, fueling the Golden State Warriors with hopes that they had found Stephen Curry’s new Splash Brother.
And those expectations weren’t far-fetched — Hield has made the second-most threes since entering the league in 2016-17. The Bahamian sharpshooter’s first season with the Warriors had its moments. He broke records for most threes with a new team, and later tied a playoff record for most threes in a Game 7, helping the Warriors advance past the Houston Rockets. Yet, between those record-setting nights, he never became a consistent presence on the Warriors.
Buddy Hield Gone from Warriors?
Hield’s second season is off to a disastrous start, with the 10th-year guard setting career lows in points (7.9), minutes (18.5), 3PM (1.5) and 3P% (32.0) through 28 games. The veteran guard has nearly fallen out of Steve Kerr’s rotation recently, playing less than 16 minutes a night in his previous two games .
The Forbes’ Evan Sidery reported Friday that the Warriors are shopping Hield ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, with hopes of packaging Jonathan Kuminga and Hield for an impact player.
“The Warriors are canvassing the trade market on Buddy Hield,” Sidery wrote on X.
“Playing a career-low in minutes, Hield appears on the way out of Golden State by the trade deadline. If Golden State attempts to make a big splash, Hield and Jonathan Kuminga’s salaries combined equal $31.7 million.”
Warriors Trade Prospects
While the 2026-27 Team Option in Kuminga’s contract has reportedly made him an attractive trade piece, Hield has only one year left on the three-year, $37M deal he signed with the Warriors in 2024. As such, the Warriors could potentially package them in a deal that teams may view as a low-risk transaction.
Amid their 13-15 start, the Warriors are “buyers” ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, per NBA insider Chris Haynes, with the franchise targeting athletic, rim-running big men.
“[The Warriors] are looking for size and athleticism,” Haynes told the “NBA on Prime” telecast on Friday. “Rebounding and block shots, they’re in the bottom half of the league. And points in the paint, they are dead last. So they’re looking for an athletic center.”
Haynes named Dallas Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford, Brooklyn Nets‘ Nic Claxton and Portland Trail Blazers’ Robert Williams as three big men the Warriors have identified as potential targets.
“I was told they are really serious,” Haynes said of the Warriors trade targets. “They are trying to do everything they can to get this team back to a championship-contender level.”
The Warriors rank dead-last in paint points scored, 17th in opponent paint points allowed (50.8), 19th in rebounding (43.5) and 22nd in blocked shots per game (4.3). As such, it’s understandable that they are seeking athletic frontcourt upgrades.
Besides Hield and Kuminga, the Warriors are reportedly willing to gauge offers for Brandin Podziemski, too, ahead of the deadline period. Last year, they landed Jimmy Butler III from the Miami Heat in the final hours before the deadline.
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