Buddy Hield Trade Rumors: Execs Skeptical Pacers Can Get 1st-Round Pick Ahead of FA

The Indiana Pacers, who are reportedly looking to trade Buddy Hield, might have trouble getting a first-round pick back in return, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

After Stein said Saturday on 97.1 The Freak that a Hield trade could command a first-round pick in return, several NBA executives disagreed, Stein wrote Sunday on Substack.

"The handful of execs I spoke to post-show were unanimous in their view that Hield's looming free agency, with only this coming season left on his current contract at $19.3 million, will complicate Indiana's efforts to generate offers that feature more than multiple second-round picks attached to the contract(s) needed to match Hield's salary," Stein wrote.

Hield, who is in the final season of a four-year extension he signed with the Sacramento Kings in 2019, is currently set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

He has been with the Pacers since a midseason trade involving Tyrese Haliburton sent him from the Kings in 2022.

The veteran sharpshooter averaged 16.8 points per game through 73 starts and 80 appearances for the Pacers last season. He made 8.5 three-point attempts per game and sunk an average of 3.6 of them, ranking him among the top 10 shooters from behind the arc in the NBA.

That could be a major boost for teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks. The Athletic's Shams Charania named those contenders as three teams who might be interested in adding a three-point specialist.

But extra help in the backcourt might not be able to command a first-round pick from those potential suitors, if that help will only be sticking around for a single season.

Charania reported earlier this week that the Pacers' talks with Hield regarding an extension "stalled out" after a recent extension offered to Hield did not make the veteran "feel desired."

That might mean the Pacers will have to move Hield, or watch him walk for nothing. According to Charania and Stein, it sounds like the team is leaning toward the former, whether a first-rounder is involved or not.