Warriors To Acquire Buddy Hield Via Sign-and-trade With 76ers: Sources

By Shams Charania, Mark Puleo, Anthony Slater and Mike Vorkunov

After an extended recruiting process over the past few days, the Golden State Warriors reached an agreement with free-agent guard Buddy Hield, league sources said. They will acquire him in a sign-and-trade with the Philadelphia 76ers that will be extended to five teams to make the deal work, league sources said.

Hield’s new contract will be four years, with a starting salary of $8.7 million and a fourth-year player option. The Warriors will send the 2031 second-round pick from Dallas, which they received after Klay Thompson was let go, back to Philadelphia in exchange, rerouting it as part of a five-team deal that also includes the Charlotte Hornets and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Hield is currently in Valencia, Spain, playing for the Bahamian national team, which is two wins away from a surprise Olympic bid and is coached by Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco, Hield’s key recruiting partner. It had been moving in this direction for a few days, but Hield made the final decision only after a call with Steve Kerr late Wednesday night and then a night of sleeping on it.

Hield chose the Warriors because he had a chance to edge out other interested suitors, including the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers.

After losing Thompson, the Warriors were looking for a high-volume shooter who could open up the floor a bit more in some of their lineup combinations. That’s exactly what Hield specializes in. Since 2017, the only player to make more 3-pointers than Hield is his new teammate, Steph Curry.

Hield, 31, averaged 12.2 points in 32 regular-season games with the Sixers, shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3. He was acquired by Philadelphia in a deadline move from the Indiana Pacers. Since 2016-17, he has career averages of 15.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game on 40 percent shooting from 3.

Hield and Kyle Anderson will be placed in the Thompson trade exception, which arose after Thompson agreed to a three-year, $50 million deal with the Mavericks at the start of free agency. The Warriors replaced Thompson and Chris Paul with Hield, Anderson and De’Anthony Melton this summer.

Hield has shot over 40 percent from 3 in three seasons, most recently with the Pacers in 2022-23. In 2020-21, he hit four 3s per game, third-most in the league.

What does this mean for the Warriors?

They’ve rebuilt the middle of their rotation with three dependable veteran players with different skill sets. Melton, health-wise, gives them a defensive punch at the shooting guard spot next to Curry and a guy who’s capable of handling the toughest perimeter defensive assignments while spacing the floor and not needing the ball in his hands. Anderson is a long-armed, smart wing who played 15 minutes a night in the Timberwolves’ playoff rotation. Hield provides the high-volume floor spacing they lost with Thompson heading out the door.

The Warriors are still a ways off from being considered any sort of fringe contender, but they have taken a good hold on the edges. Anthony Slater, Warriors beat writer

Hield was probably too expensive for the 76ers

With Hield gone, Philadelphia loses a potential role player among its new big three, but Hield was too expensive anyway. He was left out of the rotation in the playoffs last season after coming in just before the trade deadline — except for one magical quarter against the Knicks. The Sixers can use that second-round pick as another piece of ammunition for whatever Daryl Morey is drafting or is drafting. That would hit the Sixers hard on the other apron, since they sent away a player of their own in a sign-and-trade. — Mike Vorkonov, NBA business reporter