Buddy Hield Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Unlikely To Include Hield, Moody In Kuminga Deal

August 10th, 2025 at 5:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Warriors are actively encouraging sign-and-trade offers for Jonathan Kuminga, writes Jake Fischer for the Stein Line (subscriber link). However, Fischer adds that they are unwilling to do a deal that would require them to include either Buddy Hield or Moses Moody for salary-matching purposes.

Because of the CBA’s base year compensation rules regarding sign and trades, any deal that would return more than a mid-level type salary would likely require the addition of a second player from Golden State, but Fischer says the Warriors view Moody and Hield as valuable contributors next season.

Hield and Moody emerged as two of the team’s more consistent shooters last season. Moody averaged 9.8 points and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 37.4% on three-pointers. Hield averaged 11.1 PPG and made 37% of his three-pointers while being the only Warrior to play in all 82 games.

Hield is a career 39.7% three-point shooter and his mark last year was actually the second-lowest of his career. Of the returning players on the Warriors’ roster, only Stephen Curry, Quinten Post, and Brandin Podziemski had higher three-point percentages than Moody and/or Hield.

According to Fischer, the Warriors’ unwillingness to include either player is one of the bigger roadblocks facing the team in trade talks.

Pacific Notes: Kuminga, Kings, Suns, Green

August 6th, 2025 at 8:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Warriors do not want to include the contract of either Moses Moody or Buddy Hield as part of a possible Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade with the Kings, Sam Amick of The Athletic confirms (via Twitter). That essentially stalls the deal indefinitely, as Golden State would need to move off one of those players in order to take back Malik Monk and fill out the rest of its roster.

There’s still plenty of time left between now and the October 1 deadline for Kuminga to accept his qualifying offer, so it’s possible other suitors or offers will emerge for the restricted free agent forward, but for now, Golden State expects Kuminga to return to the team for 2025/26.

Kuminga was injured for much of the 2024/25, but when he did play, the 22-year-old showed his athleticism and scoring ability. In 47 healthy games, he averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per contest.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic confirms that there’s mutual interest between the Suns and Kuminga, but acknowledges that a deal between Phoenix and the Warriors looks like an extreme long shot at this point. According to Rankin, the 6’7″ forward views the Suns as the kind of team where he’d get to enjoy a major, consistent role alongside an All-Star (Devin Booker). The Suns have talked to Booker’s agent, Aaron Turner, but the Warriors have shown no interest in the trade package Phoenix can offer.
While there has been some outside skepticism, the Suns are confident that newly added guard Jalen Green will be a good fit alongside Booker in their backcourt. Gerald Bourgeut of PHNX Sports breaks down three areas of Green’s game that the former No. 2 overall pick needs to improve for the pairing with Booker to succeed. Last year on the 52-30 Rockets, Green averaged a team-high 21.0 points, along with 3.4 dimes per game. He has intriguing upside as a supplemental creator and scorer next to Booker.
In case you missed it, Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James has reportedly been amenable to L.A.’s pivot to focusing its team-building around the younger Luka Doncic.

Warriors Don’t Expect To Trade Jonathan Kuminga

August 4th, 2025 at 10:06am CST by Arthur Hill

After making little progress in sign-and-trade talks, the Warriors expect Jonathan Kuminga to be on their roster when the season begins, a source tells Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard.

As a restricted free agent, Kuminga has been involved in a stalemate throughout the summer. No interested teams have enough cap space to make a competitive offer, and no one is willing to give Golden State what it wants in a potential deal. The Kings and Suns have been mentioned most prominently as possible trade partners for the 22-year-old forward, but negotiations have been fruitless so far.

Several sources tell Kawakami that the Warriors have been “unenthusiastic” about the prospect of trading Kuminga since the process began. Owner Joe Lacob remains a huge supporter of Kuminga and isn’t willing to part with him unless the trade package includes “real value.”

Kawakami adds that Lacob is willing to be patient until the situation is resolved. That means there’s no pressure on general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. to take the best available deal just to have a sense of certainty as training camp nears.

In the absence of an offer sheet from a rival team, Kuminga’s options are limited. He can either accept a reported two-year, $45MM offer from the Warriors that includes a team option for the second season, or he can sign his one-year, $8MM qualifying offer.

Kawakami views the Kings as the best destination for Kuminga and states that he probably would have signed with them by now if he had been unrestricted. Sacramento could offer a definite rotation role and is rumored to be willing to pay him $63MM over three years.

The Kings are reportedly offering Malik Monk and a protected future first-round pick in return, which hasn’t piqued the Warriors’ interest. Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that Golden State wants the pick to be unprotected, and Kawakami is doubtful that the team has interest in giving up Moses Moody or Buddy Hield, as one of them would have to be added to the deal due to base year compensation rules.

Kuminga has until October 1 to accept the qualifying offer, and Kawakami notes that the date can be pushed back if both sides agree. That means there’s no urgency to get a deal in place, especially from the team’s perspective.

Kawakami’s compromise solution is for the Warriors to replace the second-year team option in their proposal with a partially guaranteed year, perhaps around $14MM. That would guarantee Kuminga in excess of $30MM and take away his right to block a trade. Kawakami points out that it would provide a lot more security than taking the QO and would leave Kuminga with a contract that would be easy to move by the February trade deadline.

Warriors Notes: Game 5, Butler, Curry, Three-Point Shooting

May 14th, 2025 at 8:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors are teetering on the brink of elimination heading into tonight’s Game 5 at Minnesota, but they haven’t lost confidence that they can rally and take the series, writes Ann Killion of The San Francisco Chronicle. Golden State won the opener, but the tone of the series shifted when Stephen Curry suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain after playing just 13 minutes. The Warriors haven’t looked the same without their star guard to stretch Minnesota’s defense, dropping three straight games, including two in a row at Chase Center.

“Win one game, take it from there,” Draymond Green said after Monday’s loss. “That’s our mindset. You win one and everything changes.”

Coach Steve Kerr has been juggling his rotations throughout the playoffs amid inconsistent performances from his role players. Killion notes that Brandin Podziemski has been struggling with his shot, going 3-of-14 from the field in Game 4 while missing all four of his three-point attempts, while Buddy Hield committed four turnovers and made just two three-pointers.

“We have belief, we have faith,” Kevon Looney said. “We’ll take it possession by possession, quarter by quarter. We’ve got to put together a full game, not just 40 good minutes of basketball.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Jimmy Butler was under the weather in Game 4, when he took only nine shots and finished at a game-worst minus-30, Killion adds. In a session with the media before tonight’s contest, Kerr said Butler has recovered from his illness and is now feeling good, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link).
The team announced Tuesday that Curry wouldn’t be available for Game 5, but Kerr told reporters tonight that there’s still hope for Sunday’s Game 6 if Golden State can extend the series, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). “It’s a possibility he could play,” Kerr said. Curry will be reevaluated on Saturday to determine how much progress he has made.
With Curry on the sidelines and several of his shooters mired in slumps, Kerr admits that the Warriors haven’t been able to use the three-pointer as a weapon as much as they would like to, Slater writes in a full story. “The series changed with Steph’s injury,” Kerr said. “So everybody’s shots are going to be more difficult. Steph’s a guy who breaks the defense down for us and creates that offensive flow. I think the result is that shots are more difficult for every single guy.”

Warriors Notes: Curry, Reserves, Butler, Hield, 2020 Draft

May 7th, 2025 at 8:01am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors‘ 99-88 Game 1 victory over the Timberwolves on Tuesday came at a big cost. Stephen Curry suffered a left hamstring strain in the second quarter and missed the second half.

“He’s obviously crushed,” coach Steve Kerr said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “But the guys picked him up and played a great game, and obviously we’re all concerned about Steph but it’s part of the game.”

Kerr doubts Curry, who will undergo an MRI today, can play in Game 2. Curry limped out of the arena and didn’t speak to the media.

“We don’t know yet,” Kerr said. “But with a hamstring, it’s hard to imagine that he would play Thursday.”

Forward Draymond Green is optimistic the team can hold its own until Curry returns, especially with another proven playoff performer in Jimmy Butler.

“Jimmy’s capable of carrying a team. He carried a team to the Finals twice. So we won’t panic,” Green said. “We will figure out what that means. We have the best coaching staff in the NBA. We know they’ll put us in a good spot and let us know what our offense looks like without Steph if we have to go on without him. We got full confidence in the guys that are on this team that we can make plays, can make shots.”

We have more on the Warriors:

Bench contributions from Pat Spencer, Gary Payton II and Kevon Looney helped the Warriors to overcome Curry’s absence, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. Thrust into backup point guard duties, Spencer had two steals, two rebounds and a pair of key baskets. Payton, sidelined in Game 7 of the first round by an illness, played a bench-high 26 minutes and supplied four assists, five rebounds and eight points. Looney secured two late offensive rebounds.
Butler and Buddy Hield dragged the Warriors to the finish line offensively. Butler finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and two steals, while Hield scored all but two of his 24 points after halftime. “I’m Batman today,” Hield quipped. “I saved the day.” Hield is in the first year of a four-year, $37.8MM contract.
The Timberwolves and Warriors had the top two picks in the 2020 draft — Minnesota got a star in Anthony Edwards, Golden State swung and missed with James Wiseman. Slater offers details on the developments leading up to that draft, reporting that the Warriors had conversations about trading out, trading back and even the trading up for Minnesota’s selection before ultimately deciding to retain the No. 2 pick.

Warriors Notes: Butler, Hield, Payton, Green

May 5th, 2025 at 9:49am CST by Luke Adams

Jimmy Butler helped the Warriors clinch a Game 7 victory and a second-round date with the Timberwolves, scoring 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting while also contributing eight rebounds and seven assists in Sunday’s 103-89 series-clinching victory over Houston.

Butler played just eight minutes in Game 2 due to a pelvic injury that also cost him Game 3, and he had a forgettable Game 5, with just eight points on 2-of-10 shooting in a one-sided loss. But his presence made a difference for the Warriors during the second half of the season and over the course of the first-round playoff series, prompting team owner Joe Lacob to express to Sam Amick of The Athletic on Sunday that he’s glad he signed off on the deadline deal for the star forward.

“Sometimes you get them right,” Lacob told Amick with a laugh. “That’s all I can say.”

Given the ugly way that Butler’s time in Miami ended, there were questions about whether it would make sense to give up multiple assets to acquire him and sacrifice major cap flexibility to sign him to a maximum-salary extension. But general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. insisted Butler was worth that risk and Lacob is happy he trusted his GM.

“Yeah, there were (concerns about Butler),” Lacob said. “But you do your analysis, you make your choices, and, yeah, it was a little bit of a risk. But we’ve got to take risks in this life. And he’s worth every freaking penny. That’s all I can say. He’s fantastic.”

Here’s more on the Warriors, one of eight NBA teams still in the hunt for a title:

While no Warrior had more rebounds (10) or assists (7) than Stephen Curry on Sunday, it was Buddy Hield who unexpectedly led the team in scoring, pouring in 33 points while matching an NBA record with nine three-pointers in a Game 7. A nine-year veteran, Hield played in the postseason for the first time in 2024, but didn’t see many minutes in Philadelphia’s first-round loss. As Marcus Thompson II writes for The Athletic, the veteran sharpshooter embraced the opportunity to play a larger role this time around. “I never been in this situation before,” Hield said. “Just trying to seize the moment. Relish the moment. Just be in the moment. … and enjoy the moment.”
After earning a start in Game 6, veteran guard Gary Payton II was unable to suit up for Game 7 on Sunday due to an illness, writes Kristie Rieken of The Associated Press. “He’s just sick as a dog,” Kerr said before the game. “Woke up ill and didn’t go to shootaround. Hasn’t eaten. No way (he) can play.” Although Payton played a regular rotation role during the series, Golden State struggled during his minutes — the team had a -17.7 net rating when he was on the court and a +8.2 mark when he wasn’t.
Draymond Green racked up four technical fouls and two flagrants in the Warriors’ seven-game series vs. Houston, but kept his emotions in check in Game 7 to help the team advance to round two, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “He’s the key to our team,” head coach Steve Kerr told Slater. “He’s the guy who can drive winning. But he can also drive losing, frankly. What makes him great is also his kryptonite. His emotion, his passion, his competitive fire. … When Draymond is centered and organized and poised and Steph is taking care of the ball, it’s so easy for the rest of the group just to follow and do their jobs.”
According to Kerr, Green “set the tone” ahead of Game 7 at a players-only meeting on Saturday, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “Basically, he owned up to losing his poise in Game 6, and I agreed with him,” Kerr said after Sunday’s victory. “I thought the flagrant foul (in the first quarter of Game 6) was a tone-setter, and he knew it and so he talked to the group and said, ‘I got to be poised and I have to be better, and we’re going to come in here tomorrow and get it done.’ And I think his emotional stability tonight, just his poise from the start, set a great tone.”
Butler and Green will be public enemies number one and two in Minnesota during the conference semifinals, according to Jon Krawcznyski of The Athletic, who notes that Butler’s messy exit in 2018 and Green’s frequent criticisms of Rudy Gobert have earned the duo the ire of Timberwolves fans.

Warriors Notes: Butler, Lineup Changes, Looney, Kuminga, Game 7

May 3rd, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors missed two chances to close out their first-round series with the Rockets, but they remain confident going into Sunday’s Game 7, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Golden State was blown out in Game 5 and watched Houston pull away in the fourth quarter of Game 6, but there were no signs of panic in the locker room after Friday’s loss.

“We’re good. We’re smiling,” Jimmy Butler said. “We’re listening to our music, celebrating life. We’re ready to compete. We were ready to compete tonight. Things didn’t go our way. OK, we’re going to be ready to compete on Sunday. We’re going to make the game go our way.”

The Warriors believe their experience in high-stakes games will ultimately decide the series, Youngmisuk adds. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have a 3-2 record in seventh games during their time together, with the last one coming in 2023 when they won handily at Sacramento. Butler has been in four Game 7s, going 2-2.

Many of the Rockets’ core players are going through their first playoff experience, but Youngmisuk notes that they have some veterans who’ve been in this situation before. Jeff Green, Steven Adams, Fred VanVleet and Aaron Holiday have collectively been in 10 seventh games.

There’s more on the Warriors:

Steve Kerr made two changes to his starting lineup before Game 6 — replacing Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski with Buddy Hield and Gary Payton II — and he might consider revising it again on Sunday, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Slater explains that Golden State is trying to get Alperen Sengun involved in actions involving Curry, but the zones Houston has been employing are making it easier for Sengun to avoid that matchup. Slater suggests that Kevon Looney could see more time to battle against Adams after playing just two minutes on Friday.
Kerr said putting Jonathan Kuminga back into the rotation is “100 percent on the table” for Game 7 (Twitter video link from Slater). Kuminga has made just two appearances in the series, logging 26 minutes in a Game 2 loss and 17 minutes in a Game 3 win.
Butler dismissed concerns that the veteran Warriors are being worn down by a younger, more athletic opponent, per Ann Killion of The San Francisco Chronicle. “We’ll be all right,” Butler said. “I’m 35, I can’t remember how old Steph is (37), Dray is 35, too. Everybody’s got to travel the same distance. Ain’t like we’re going to go around the world and land in Houston and they got only a five-minute flight to Houston. They’ve got to travel just like we’ve got to travel.”

Rockets Notes: VanVleet, Offense, Green, Sengun, Landale

April 28th, 2025 at 6:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets hold a $44.9MM club option on Fred VanVleet‘s contract for next season. The veteran guard hasn’t done himself any favors in the playoff series against Golden State. In the first three games, VanVleet made only 26.8% of his shots (11-of-41), including 20.7% of his three-pointers (6-of-29), while averaging 11.3 points and four assists in 41 minutes per game, Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle points out. Game 4 is tonight.

“There’s times and places where I have to play better, I have to make shots at a higher clip,” VanVleet said. “I have to find rhythm and find ways to be more aggressive. But obviously, if I’m getting two on the ball at 28, 30 feet, I feel like I’ve done my job for that possession. If I can draw a mismatch and I can draw a best defender, there’s opportunity for other guys, I feel like I’ve done my job on that possession. So, it’s different ways to attack. I have to be better, 1,000%, and if I make two more shots we probably win Game 1. If I make a couple more (Saturday), we probably get out of here with a win, so that’s totally on me, for sure.”

We have more on the Rockets:

The Game 3 loss to Golden State, in which the Warriors survived the absence of Jimmy Butler, showed that the Rockets probably need an offensive star to be true contenders, Sam Amick of The Athletic writes. Houston, which was held to 85 points in Game 1, was limited to 93 points in Game 3. If the Rockets decide to go shopping for a roster upgrade, Jalen Green — who signed a three-year, $106MM extension in October — is widely expected to be part of the deal, according to Amick.
Houston needs to do a better job of holding down the Warriors’ role players, Kelly Iko of The Athletic notes. Buddy Hield and Gary Payton II combined for 33 points on 7-of-14 three-point attempts in Game 3. The Rockets also need Alperen Şengun to deliver in clutch moments. The center shot 7-for-18 from the field and made only one of six free throw attempts in Game 3.
Backup big Jock Landale, who has yet to play in the series, is listed as probable for Game 4, Lerner tweets. Landale has been recovering from a knee contusion.

Warriors Notes: Butler, Hield, Curry

April 27th, 2025 at 4:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Warriors expect six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler will return from his deep gluteal muscle contusion in Game 4 of their ongoing series against Houston, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). A source informs Slater that Butler took part in an on-court workout ahead of the team’s eventual Game 3 victory against Houston on Saturday. He was held out so that his body could better recuperate, but the team is hoping he will return for Game 4 on Monday.

Butler suffered the injury during a scary fall early into Game 2, and has been sidelined ever since. Golden State has gone 1-1 without him.

On Saturday, ESPN’s Shams Charania told colleague Malika Andrews (Twitter video link) that Butler had “no mobility” on Saturday, which ultimately led to the team’s decision to sit him.

Head coach Steve Kerr, meanwhile, indicated that he considers Butler officially day-to-day, and has no idea whether or not the star forward will play, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (via Twitter).

There’s more out of Golden State:

With Butler shelved, Warriors guard Buddy Hield stepped up to help the club secure a Game 3 home win, Slater writes in another piece. An eight-point Hield run in the second quarter helped stabilize Golden State heading into the halftime break. He ultimately finished with 17 points and a plus-14 mark across 29 minutes of action. “I knew Robin was out, so I had to step up,” Hield said, referencing Butler’s repeated suggestion that he is the Robin to All-NBA guard Stephen Curry‘s Batman. “I had to be Alfred.”
Stephen Curry was the star of the show for the Warriors in Game 3 on Saturday, Youngmisuk writes for ESPN.com. The two-time league MVP took it upon himself to score more against a tough Rockets defense, notching 25 of his 36 total points in the second and third quarters to propel his team to a 104-93 victory. “He’s one [of the] greatest players of all time,” Kerr said. “He’s 37. He’s one of the most well-conditioned athletes I’ve ever seen in my life. To play 41 minutes against that kind of defense, to have a slow start and then find his rhythm, which we have seen him do countless times over the years, to hit big shots, to only turn it over twice against that kind of pressure, he was brilliant.”
In case you missed it, Rockets forward Dillon Brooks defended teammate Amen Thompson‘s play on Butler that led to his injury.

Pacific Notes: Durant, Hield, Morant, Curry, Kawhi

April 2nd, 2025 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked on Wednesday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link) about possible offseason trade destinations for Kevin Durant, ESPN’s Shams Charania said there was mutual interest between the Suns‘ star and a handful of potential suitors ahead of February’s trade deadline. According to Charania, that list of teams included the Timberwolves, Knicks, Rockets, Spurs, and Heat.

“Those are the types of teams, from my understanding, that had interest then,” Charania said. “And I expect them all to be in the mix this offseason.”

Charania didn’t explicitly mention the Warriors, but that’s likely due to the fact that Durant was known to be resistant to a Golden State reunion in February. If his stance changes this summer, it’s possible the Warriors could once again emerge as a suitor.

One report this week suggested that Durant is open to the idea of returning to Phoenix next season, but a trade still appears to be the most likely outcome. Unlike in February when the Suns unilaterally gauged the market for the veteran forward without consulting him, the team and Durant’s camp would likely work together on any deal this offseason, Charania notes.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

The NBA is looking into an incident from Tuesday’s Warriors/Grizzlies game when Golden State sharpshooter Buddy Hield and Memphis guard Ja Morant aimed finger-gun gestures at one another, according to Charania and Tim MacMahon of ESPN. A video of that brief interaction can be found here (via Twitter). The NBA has fined players for that gesture in the past and is likely especially sensitive to this case since Morant has been suspended twice in the past for waving around an actual gun in social media videos.
Stephen Curry racked up 52 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and five steals in the Warriors‘ win over Memphis on Tuesday and told reporters after the game that he feels rejuvenated after taking a week off to recover from a pelvic injury in March, per ESPN. “I feel in a good rhythm,” Curry said. “The week off helped. The tank is pretty full.” Steve Kerr said a couple weeks ago that he wanted to get Curry some rest, but the Warriors coach no longer seems as concerned about his star guard’s condition. “I think (the week off) helped and I think two rounds of golf on this road trip helped,” Kerr said, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
After missing the first two-plus months of the season while recovering from a knee procedure and then playing on a minutes limit for several more weeks after that, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has recaptured his All-NBA form, having averaged 25.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game with a .521/.397/.825 shooting line in 13 March outings. Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at Leonard’s resurgence and the 33-year-old’s desire to enter the offseason healthy.