ATLANTA – The rare NBA lottery pick who played four years in college, Buddy Hield built a basketball resume that is much thicker and more extensive than virtually every other 2016 draftee, highlighted by multiple national Player of the Year awards. The shooting guard is also older than the vast majority of first-year pros – he'll celebrate his 23rd birthday exactly two months from today.
But he's still a rookie.
Hield seemed to experience one of those games brand-new NBA players dread Wednesday in Beijing, China, when the Bahamas native went scoreless vs. Houston. After two very good preseason performances and a third decent outing, the 6-foot-4, 214-pounder had his first off night, going 0/4 from the field. Prior to that, Hield had shot over 50 percent. Even with that 0-fer added to his preseason statistics, he's at 47.6 percent (20/42) overall and 35.3 percent from three-point range (6/17).
“It's been OK,” Hield said Monday, when asked for his assessment of how he's fared in preseason. “Even if I'm going good, I still feel like I can get better. Never get too high or too low – always stay in between. I always keep that mindset. It's about getting a feel for the game and confidence. Getting confident more in myself, that's the biggest thing and what's important in these next two preseason games.”
New Orleans (1-3) wraps up its six-game preseason schedule this week with road games at Atlanta and Orlando. Tuesday's matchup against the Hawks will be broadcast nationally by NBA TV (6:30 p.m. Central). The Pelicans will be without Anthony Davis (right ankle sprain) on the court, though the three-time All-Star is traveling with the team.
Among the Pelicans who've appeared in all four preseason games, Hield is second in scoring at 12.8 points per game, behind only E'Twaun Moore (13.8), with Terrence Jones at 13.5 in his two games. Davis averaged 12.5 in his four games, but his Wednesday appearance vs. Houston was only seven minutes due to the first-quarter ankle injury.
New Orleans has spent considerable time this month focusing on defense, an area where the Pelicans must improve after placing 28th in the league last season. That end of the floor is a key adjustment for all NBA rookies, particularly given that the talent level rises dramatically. Hield called his defensive play “solid” two-thirds of the way through preseason.
“I've been solid,” the Oklahoma product said. “I've been good defensively. I still can get better, and that's just watching more tape. It's knowing player personnel – which (opposing) player does this and does that.”
Hield has leaned on Pelicans veterans including Moore and Solomon Hill, who've helped give pointers on some of the opponents they've already faced numerous times as pros.
“(I've been) learning from them,” Hield said.
That learning curve tends to be steep for virtually every new player who enters the league, but the Pelicans have been impressed by Hield's willingness to listen and apply those lessons to his development.
“He's been really conscientious,” Pelicans second-year head coach Alvin Gentry said. “He's tried to learn everything that we've thrown at him. He's still a very confident shooter. He's still a confident guy. He's going to have some games where he struggles. But for the most part, I feel like he's going to develop into a very good basketball player.”
