Hield: “I see my name in trade rumors, but I can’t control all of that.”
Jul 14, 2021, 9:45 AM | Updated: 9:45 am
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield shed some light on his thought process this offseason and touched on Marvin Bagley III’s future on the ‘Post Up with Chris Haynes’ podcast
This offseason could feature a flurry of moves for a Sacramento Kings franchise that is looking to end an NBA-record 15-year playoff drought next season.
The player that has been mentioned at the forefront of almost every trade rumor for the past several months has been sharpshooting Kings guard Buddy Hield. Not only has Hield been mentioned in several trade rumors dating back to last trade deadline, but the 28-year-old has also been seen ‘liking’ tweets on Twitter and Instagram posts depicting the guard in other team’s jersey.
Fresh off of a season that saw Hield knock down 282 triples–the ninth-most made three-point field goals in a single season in NBA history–the trade rumors surrounding the guard are once again swirling as the offseason draws nearer by the day.
Just this week, Hield joined NBA insider for Yahoo! Sports Chris Haynes on the ‘Posted Up’ podcast to discuss the rumors, his future with the team and teammate Marvin Bagley III, who has also been in the news recently for ‘liking’ tweets in regards to ‘getting out of Sacramento’.
Hield’s response when asked if he would be a member of the Kings for the 2021-22 season:
“That’s not my problem, that’s not my job. I’ll leave that job up to (owner Vivek Ranadivé) and (general manager Monte McNair). That’s why we hire those guys to do that. My job is to go out there and play basketball and everybody’s goal is to get to the playoffs and win a championship…I see my name in trade rumors, but I can’t control all of that.”
Hield has three years and $62 million remaining on his four-year, $94 million extension that he signed prior to the 2019-20 regular season.
Another player that has been making headlines as of late is third-year forward and number-two pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Marvin Bagley III. Bagley has struggled with injuries over the past three seasons, having only appeared in 118 games (34th in the draft class) out of 226 opportunities.
Bagley is in the final year of his rookie scale contract, with the Kings reportedly weighing the option of moving the 22-year-old before he hits restricted free agency next summer.
On Bagley and his future with the organization, Hield backed his teammate with words of encouragement:
“As a number-two pick, a young player, you come in and everybody says you have to get yourself established in the league, so he’s just trying to get himself established. He hasn’t really been able to do that. We all know that he can play, but his downfall is just trying to stay healthy. We know he’s working his butt off every year, every summer, every time he has an injury, he’s working his butt off trying to get back.”
Free agency is set to begin on August 2nd, just a few days after the 2021 NBA Draft takes place on July 29th.
Sacramento general manager Monte McNair will have his hands full with restructuring the Kings roster into a playoff contender as the franchise stares at the possibility of a 16th-consecutive season without playoff basketball.
