Pelicans Need a Hit and Not a Whiff on Draft Night
BUDDY HIELD, SMALL / SHOOTING GUARD, OKLAHOMA
Buddy Hield, SG, Oklahoma – Wooden Award Winner, Naismith College Player of the Year, 1st Team All American. Hield averaged 25 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2 assists per game.
A 22-year-old SG, the Bahamas-born Hield came back for his senior year to improve his draft stock. To say mission accomplished would be an understatement, as Hield absolutely obliterated his earlier draft stock.
Hield is a very explosive SG. He is a little undersized at 6-4, but he can fill out a stat sheet. The 2016 Wooden Award Winner, 2016 Naismith Colege Player of the Year and 2 time Big 12 Player of the Year put on a show — as in “must see TV”.
He captivated college basketball and led Oklahoma to a deep Final Four run. Hield’s game took flight and he had a meteoric rise in his senior season. He improved dramatically in several facets, FG%, 3pt FG%, Defensive rebounding, FT%, blocks, and Points per game.
Hield was flat-out explosive.
Hield handled the pressure and expectations well, and his game never tapered off; and if anything, it ascended.
Hield is deadly in transition, but also looks for better angles for better looks at the basket. The best part about Hield’s game is he has NBA range and he has a quick trigger.
On the perimeter Hield uses hesitation moves, footwork, and quick release to get his shot off. Hield loves to drive left. Hield does need some improvement in his ball handling, and needs to get better at seeing the entire floor.
He also needs to improve on facilitating (he averaged 2 assist a game) and his defense. Hield plays hard, and there isn’t any doubt that his game can translate and be effective in the NBA. He can flat-out score the basketball.
If Demps and the Pelicans continue to “kick the can down the road”, eventually you end up at the end of the road, with some pot holes along the way.
The draft is a “crap shoot” — a game of chance.
The Pelicans need a long-term solution, not a short term debacle. It is absolutely critical that the Pelicans hit with their top pick on Draft Night, rather than a swing and a miss or a “whiff’.
Anything less than getting Anthony Davis some legitimate help to turn around the fortunes of New Orleans’ NBA franchise, will be completely unacceptable………