Nobody will ever be able to take away what Klay Thompson meant to the Golden State Warriors. His fourth championships speak for themselves, and Thompson will always be a beloved member of this franchise. However, his departure signaled internal change for the Warriors, change that has already put them on the path to success because of the depth and shooting that now exist around Stephen Curry. More importantly, the team now has Buddy Hield, who is everything Golden State wanted Thompson to be at this point in his career.
Hield has always been known for his shooting abilities. In fact, since entering the league in 2016, Hield ranks only behind Curry for the most threes made in the entire league. This is the type of player the Warriors needed to add to their roster, and so far he looks like a seamless fit. Curry and the Warriors steamrolled the Portland Trail Blazers 139-104 in their season opener on Wednesday night, a game in which Hield recorded 22 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range in 15 total minutes off the bench.
After the game, Curry made sure to praise Hield for his efforts, even going as far to say that regardless of Klay leaving, Hield’s addition was vital to this team’s success.
“The guy just loves to play basketball. He loves to hoop, he loves to be in the gym,” Curry said of Hield, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Without Klay, you need shooting. We needed shooting anyway. Me and him go one and two, Klay right there, shooting threes for the last eight years, so we know what his skillset is. We know what he is capable of doing. It’s been a very seamless transition so far.”
Buddy Hield happy to be with Warriors
Curry would never go as far to say that Hield is a better overall fit than Thompson, but from both a performance and mental standpoint, it does appear as if the 31-year-old is exactly what Golden State needed.
What Hield offers this team that Thompson doesn’t is a fresher vibe, one that is not focused on the end of his career and still trying to be the same player he was in years past. Whereas Thompson is always going to be chasing the ghost of himself due to past injuries, Hield is simply a shooter who does his job every night from the perimeter. More importantly, Hield is happy to be with the Warriors, especially next to Curry.
“I don’t want to bring it up, but I think the last time I was free like this was at Oklahoma,” Hield told reporters after the game.
At Oklahoma, which feels like eons ago, Hield had the freedom to shoot any three-point shot he wanted, and he was an elite-level scoring weapon. While the Warriors are going to look to set Hield up in advantageous situations, he now has that freedom to hunt his shots and be the sniper that he has been for so many years from the perimeter.
This offseason, it was imperative that the Warriors added shooting and depth to their roster. That is why the team added Hield, and that is why he is going to continue to step up and make a difference with Thompson gone.
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