Prospect Analysis: Buddy Hield with Player Comparisons
With less than three short weeks before the NBA Draft, Nuggs Love is going to embark on a prospect analysis for our three first round picks.
Buddy Hield is first on the list in our prospect analysis. He proved several things at Oklahoma during his four year tenure.
- He can improve.
- He can score.
- He can lead.
When looking for an NBA draft prospect some very important aspects come afloat, and one of those is how quickly can they adapt to the NBA. Buddy Hield who was called the Naismith Player of the Year in the NCAA has show through his incredible collegiate progress and extreme shot-making that he can quickly add shooting to any team if his incredible driving is slowed down.
Upside: Proven scorer, Immediate impact player
Downside: Age, Ceiling is not extremely high
Here is NBA’s official prospect profile for Buddy.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/736339053256183809
Heild shot 88% from the line, 55.5% from the field, and 45.7% from the field this year. Let us just take a second and have two comparisons. His junior year at Davidson, Steph Curry, the one man team he was shot worse from the line, field, and three than Buddy Hield shot this year, AND Buddy Hield played in the Big 12 which is much more impressive that the Atlantic-10 conference.
Is he the next Steph? Probably not, but his collegiate numbers do not deny his impressiveness.
One more comparison that may be a bit more realistic? J.J. Redick. This LA Clippers sharpshooter stayed at Duke all four year and made 3.9 3’s per game his senior year compared to Hield’s 4.0 3’s per game his senior year. Hield who also shot a better three and two point percentage has proven he is also a better passer and ball-handler throughout his four years at Oklahoma.
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The Nuggets will be at the tail-end of the first batch of quality draft pick; therefore, we really have no choice who we should draft. Whether Brown, Hield, Dunn, Bender, or Murray is there, we will most likely take them, but Hield should be by far one of our top prospects in this draft.